


It Happened One (Drunken) Night

by firefly214



Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: Aria and Ezra meet at a club, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Ezria, Ezria baby, F/M, He's so in love with her, Pregnancy, Slow Burn, Teen Pregnancy, That's Pretty Much The Story, Then she finishes high school, They bond over a book, They eventually get back together, They're Book Nerds, They're cute, Unplanned Pregnancy, they have a baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 13:11:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 23,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19992781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefly214/pseuds/firefly214
Summary: Pretty Little Liars slight AU. Aria and Ezra meet at a club before school starts, they sleep together. They find out that he's her teacher and they break up. But then she finds out some information that brings them back together (the information is that she's pregnant, in case the tags didn't give that away). Oh, also, there's no A. And really no spoilers except for season 1.[Rated Explicit because of like 2 slightly explicit scenes. The rest could probably be like Teen rated, maybe Mature? Don't let the Explicit rating make you think that it's a smut fest, because it's definitely not lol.]





	1. It Happened One (Drunken) Night

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, look. It's another fanfic about an Ezria baby (cus a million of those don't exist already lol).  
> Anyway, thanks for checking out my story.  
> Quick notes: Ezria is endgame, the girls, stayed in touch while Aria was in Iceland, and there's no A. Also, basically everyone except Aria and Ezra get as much attention as background characters, so if you're reading it for the other characters... might just wanna leave now lol.  
> Also, this work is 21 chapters long. I currently already have all of the chapters written and posted on fanfiction.net and will be transferring them over here chapter by chapter whenever I get the chance.  
> Anyways, hope you enjoy!

The music filled all of the air in the club. Ezra nursed his drink, waiting for the night get interesting. As he drank, he had been scanning the crowd, looking for the girl who would be the focus of his night. There were many pretty girl there, obviously, but Ezra wanted there to be something special about the girl he chose. He wanted her to be more than just pretty. Maybe he was a bit of a romantic, but he didn't want a one night stand. He had nothing against taking the girl home, of course, but he didn't want that to be the end.

His attention was drawn to the entrance by the very loud of a blond girl who had obviously already had a little bit to drink before coming to the club. However, the blond girl had only temporarily caught his attention and he would've gone back to his drink after a second if he hadn't seen the blond girl's friend. The friend was obviously pretty. She was a brunette wearing a strapless tight red dress. Ezra could tell that she was short because in her tall black heels, she appeared be on the shorter side of average. But the girl's beauty was not what convinced him that she might be the one he wanted tonight. What he had noticed about the beautiful girl was that her nose was buried in a book, which was what the blond girl's loud talking seemed to be about. He couldn't make out any words, just general commotion, but the body language of the girls seemed to suggest that their conversation was about the book. Ezra could swear the brunette looked annoyed as she put the book into her purse and that made him smile.

Ezra watched the girl dance for a little with the blond and two other girls, but he knew that he hadn't drunken enough to talk to her yet. He was midway through another drink when he watched her slip away from the other girls and make her way over to the bar. She sat down at the far end of the bar, way too far away from his seat near the middle, and ordered something from the bartender. As soon as the bartender left, she reached into her purse and pulled out the book from earlier. Ezra could now see that the cover was terra cotta and mint, the same colors as the cover of his favorite novels: To Kill A Mockingbird,. He wondered if that was what she was reading. She barely looked up from the book as a drink was set in front of her.

Ezra quickly finished his half-gone drink so that he could order another one before nervously making his way over to the far end of the bar. The girl was so absorbed in her book that she didn't even look up when he sat down on the stool next to hers. He finally got a good look and the cover and realized that he had been right: she was reading his favorite book.

"Not many people spend their time at a club reading," Ezra said, getting her attention. She looked up, a bit startled since she hadn't realized that Ezra was next to her until he had spoken.

"My friends told me the same thing," she responded. "But it's just too good to put down."

"I know," Ezra agreed. "It's one of my favorites."

The girl looked at him a bit skeptically. "Is it really?" She asked, skeptically. She was clever. He liked that.

"Yeah, it really is," Ezra told her. "I, uh, I actually came over here because I thought I recognized the cover." A small smile cracked her face and Ezra realized that she was trying not to laugh. Good job! She probably thinks you're a huge dork now, Ezra though to himself.

"How many times have you read it?" The girl asked, still trying not to laugh.

"Not an unreasonable amount," Ezra responded, trying to sound cool.

"Oh, of course. I too remember the covers of books that I've only read a reasonable number of times," she mocked him with a smile.

"Well when you finish it, you'll understand why I've read it so many times," Ezra countered.

"If I even get to finish it. People seem to keep interrupting me," she laughed. Ezra suddenly felt embarrassed and stupid for having interrupted her reading.

"Sorry," he nervously apologized before starting to get up. He knew now that he had no chances with the girl.

"I'm kidding," she quickly said when she saw how seriously he had taken her comment. "Please, stay," she asked him, grabbing his arm.

"Are you sure I'm not interrupting your time with the book?" Ezra teased, getting his confidence back.

"I can finish it later," she said, closing the book. "I'm Aria, by the way," she told him with a smile. Aria, he thought, what a perfect name for an angel.

He then realized that he had been staring at her for a bit too long and that she probably wanted to know his name too. "I'm, um... Ezra," he said, momentarily, forgetting his own name at the moment when he most needed to know it.

"Ezra..." she said, dragging it out of her mouth and through her pink lips. "What does it mean?"

"Um..." he thought for a moment, scanning his brain hard. "I don't actually know," he laughed. "What does Aria mean?"

"It's like a song," she said.

"Your voice is like a song," he responded without thinking. Aria giggled and blushed in the cutest way. "Sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to say that."

"Don't be," she said as she looked back at him. There was silence for a moment before Ezra decided to say something, fearing that the silence would go on for too long as well as wanting to hear her beautiful voice again.

"So, are you from around here?" He asked. He knew that it was a bit of a stupid question, but it was the first thing he thought of. Although, after reprimanding himself, he realized that it wasn't as stupid as he thought since a lot of students from Hollis came here. And Hollis students could be from anywhere.

"Originally," she responded. "Although I'm still re-adjusting a bit after being in Iceland for the past year."

"I studied abroad in Rekjavik," Ezra said excitedly.

"What did you study?" Aria asked.

"English," Ezra responded.

"I should've guessed," Aria said with a laugh.

"I'm surprised you didn't," Ezra teased. Their faces were very close now and Ezra desperately wanted them to be closer. He was so attracted to Aria. She drew him in like a perfect siren. Slowly, he leaned closer and he touched his lips to hers. He was more than glad when she pulled him closer and put her tongue against his lips, trying to find her way into his mouth. He gladly obliged, parting his lips for her and letting his tongue touch hers.

The night went by in a bit of a blur. The only clear point was Aria. He remembered dancing with her, kissing her even more, and talking over more drinks.

It was during a particularly heavy make out that he knew he had to take her home. He had to have Aria.

"Lemme take you home?" He asked when her lips left his for a second. The second she took to think about it felt like an eternity of nervousness to Ezra. But Ezra knew that he had had nothing to worry about when she eagerly nodded.

"I just have to tell my friends," she said. Ezra missed the warmth of her body when she left him and went over to the group of girls that she had entered the club with. He watched all the girls quickly glance in his direction before turning their attention back to Aria. It was only a few seconds before she was leaving the group again and heading back over to Ezra.

He woke up the next morning next to the naked brunette angel. Her red dress lay on the floor along with his clothes. Her head rested on his chest, which he realized he really liked. Unable to resist, he ran his fingers through her hair as he watched her continue to sleep. He didn't know how long it was before she woke up. He watched her open her beautiful eyes. He watched the slight confusion they held in the first few seconds after she woke.

"Morning, beautiful," he said, his hand still in her brown locks.

"Morning," she shyly responded as she slowly sat up. Ezra's eyes subconsciously fell to her chest as the sheet fell away from her body. "See something you like?" Aria teased, leaning closer. Oh man, was she teasing him.

"Very much," Ezra said, not moving his eyes. He held his breath as Aria's body brushed his as she climbed over him and out of her bed. He briefly got a view of her full naked body before she began to cover it again with her clothes.

"You don't have to leave," Ezra said, coming out of his mini trance and throwing back the covers. "I-I can make breakfast. Stay please?" He couldn't let her leave. He had promised himself that she would not just be a one-night stand.

"I wish I could, but it's a bit late," she said, once again glancing towards the clock above his bed. Why had he been stupid enough to put a clock there?

"It's only... 10:43," he said, looking at the clock. He had not expected it to be that late.

"I'm sorry," she said, as she finished re-zipping her dress and grabbed her purse from his couch.

"Wait," he pleaded. "Can I at least have your number first?"

"I wouldn't leave without giving it to you," She said, coming back over to the side of Ezra's bed. Ezra quickly unlocked his phone and handed it to her. She quickly typed in her number before handing him his phone back. "Text me," she said as she headed towards the door. She exited his apartment and Ezra stood there, completely naked and smiling like an idiot. Aria couldn't have been more than a few feet away from his door when he started a new text.

To: Aria

I'm the luckiest guy who was in that club last night. Because I got to be the one to take you home. -Ezra


	2. Forbidden

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, readers! Welcome back!  
> Forgot to put this later chapter: Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
> Enjoy!

Aria didn't usually wake up in such a good mood on the first day of school. But her communications with Ezra, the incredibly handsome bookworm and absolute sex god, over the past few days had put her in a good mood. She quickly got dressed in a causal purple dress and dark brown (fake) leather jacket. She sent Ezra a quick good morning text before eating her breakfast then leaving for school.

Aria's friends were not surprised that she was unusually cheerful that morning. After leaving Ezra's apartment the morning after their night together, she had gone over to Spencer's house where the other girls had had a sleepover that she would've been part of if she hadn't spent the night with Ezra. Hanna had basically forced her to spill about her night with the handsome stranger. Aria remembered how Hanna's eyes had almost popped out of her head when she told her that Ezra had asked for her number before she left. Hanna's eyes had gotten even wider when she saw Ezra's text.

"Someone's awfully cheerful this morning," Hanna teased her when she joined the others in the courtyard. "Did you see Ezra again last night?"

"No, Han," Aria blushed. "We've only texted and called since then."

"He's called you?" Hanna gasped. "I can't even get Sean to do that."

"Well that's because Ezra's more mature than Sean," Aria responded. "He's not a high school boy, you know."

"Oh, I know," Hanna said in her overly suggestive way. "I saw him."

"We all did, Hanna," Spencer reminded her.

"I know that, Captain Obvious," Hanna responded. "Anyway, when are you gonna see him again, Aria?"

"I don't know," Aria shrugged. "Sometime."

"Well don't wait too long. He might forget why he's the 'luckiest guy,'" Hanna said with a wink.

"Oh, trust me. He'll never forget that," Aria said, throwing a wink over her shoulder as she headed inside with the bell. "Coming, ladies?"

The four friends were not reunited until 5th period in AP English. Aria was obviously not surprised to see Spencer and Emily in that class, but she was surprised to see Hanna there as well. Hanna really didn't seem like the AP type. However, her surprise at seeing Hanna in the class was nothing compared to her surprise at seeing another familiar face.

"Good morning, class. I'm Mr. Fitz and, as you can probably guess, I'm your AP English teacher this year..." He trailed off as he locked eyes with the girl in the second row, one desk over from the window.

Aria was beyond surprised when she realized who her English teacher was. Against her will, flashes of that night came back to her. Ezra was her English teacher. She had slept with her English teacher. She had screamed her English teacher's name. She had texted some very inappropriate thing to her English teacher. And now her English teacher was clearing his throat, trying to pretend that there wasn't anything unusual happening in his classroom.

He stayed composed for most of the rest of the lesson, but refused to look in Aria's direction again. When the bell rang, he finally addressed her.

"Aria, can I see you for a moment?" He called. Aria's friends all gave her a look. They knew. They recognized him. They knew why he was asking her to stay behind.

Ezra did not speak again until everyone else had left the room.

"You didn't tell me that you were in high school," he said.

"It never came up," she defended herself.

Ezra opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it, unable to think of a response.

"You should have told me," he finally responded.

"I didn't think it mattered. Believe me, I didn't know that you were a high school teacher. Let alone, my teacher."

"I know that you didn't know," Ezra admitted with a sigh. "But I could get in huge trouble for this, Aria."

"I know," Aria said.

"I mean, if I had known that you were my student, I never would've done anything with you," Ezra said.

"You wouldn't have?" She couldn't resist flirting with him just a little. "I thought you said that I made you the luckiest man there."

"What we did was wrong, Aria. We shouldn't have done it," he responded.

"You didn't answer my question," Aria persisted. She was curious.

"What we did was wrong," was his only response. "Please, no one can ever know," he pleaded.

"I won't tell anyone," Aria said. "I promise. I'm not interested in getting you in trouble."

"Thank you," Ezra said. "You can go now."

"Ezra-"

"You can go now, Miss Montgomery," he said firmly, getting up from his desk and opening the classroom door. Aria left without a word.

The other 3 girls were all over Aria at lunch, anxious to know what had happened after they had left the classroom.

"Nothing," Aria told them. "Nothing happened between us after you left the classroom. Nothing happened between us at the club. Nothing ever happened between us. He's just my teacher. Do you understand?" Aria scanned each of her friend's faces as they responded in unison with a "yes".

"Hanna?" Aria questioned the blond a second time.

"What? I said I got it," Hanna said.

"Did you really?" Aria questioned her. "This isn't like other secrets. You cannot tell this to anyone under any circumstances."

"I won't Aria," Hanna promised. "Promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks all for reading and have a wonderful day!


	3. Whoops!

The first month of school came and went. Ezra could teach classes like he hadn't been involved with one of his students as long as he didn't look at her. Whenever he read her papers, he would still hear her melodic voice reading the words to him. When he was cold at night, he'd miss the warmth that her body her given him on that night. He reread their texts hundreds of times, falling for her again and again. Why was he doing this to himself? He let Hardy take him out to clubs exactly like the one where he had met the one woman that he couldn't have. His heart hurt. It hurt every time he thought about her. And every time it hurt, he tried to flush the pain out of his body with another shot of alcohol. None of the women were Aria. None of them brought a book to a club, unable to put it down because they were so riveted by it. They were beautiful, of course, he couldn't deny that. And his body could not deny that he was attracted to these women. But they weren't Aria. They didn't make him want more than just one night with them. All he wanted from them was a distraction from the one he could not get over. From the one he couldn't have. Because she was his student. His 16 year-old student.

Aria, for the first time, was quiet in her English class. She was careful not to get too personal in her writing, not to be the last one in the classroom, not to think of Mr. Fitz as Ezra. He was her teacher. That was all that he was. That was all that he could be. She kept him at a distance, even within her own heart. When a boy would ask her out, she would compare them to Ezra without even meaning to. She wanted to forget Ezra. Ezra didn't exist. Only Mr. Fitz existed. But she was never able to convince herself that that was true.

It was September 30th when Hanna begged Aria to give another guy a chance. The guy was Noel. And the reason was because that was the only way she and Sean were getting tickets to some concert.

"Please, Aria," Hanna begged. "I really want to go. But Noel won't do it unless it's a double date. And the only girl he wants to go out with is you. Please!"

Aria sighed. She really didn't want to.

"Didn't you have a huge crush on him in middle school?" Emily timidly asked, trying to help the situation. "Maybe he'll help you to, you know, move on."

"Yeah, it could be good for you," Spencer added.

"Please," Hanna pleaded again, dragging the word out.

"Fine," Aria agreed. "But only for you, Hanna. And also," she said, addresses Spencer and Emily, "I have moved on, okay? I'm completely over him."

"Whatever you say," Spencer said.

The night of October 7th, Aria was at a concert with Noel, Hanna, and Sean. Noel looked at her in such an adoring way when he thought that she wasn't looking. Maybe she could move on with someone like him. He drove her home at the end of the night and she let him kiss her. He was a good kisser. Maybe she could move on with someone like him. Before they parted, he asked her out again and she agreed.

For their second date, he took them to Aria's favorite movie: It Happened One Night. Noel was sweet. Aria could see that. The way he looked at her. How he knew what her favorite movie was. He was cute too. The way that he used the age-old fake yawn to wrap his arm around her shoulders. She could see herself moving on with someone like Noel. She could see herself moving on with Noel.

October 14th was when she began throwing up and she feared that she now knew why she had been late. The tests she was afraid to look at confirmed it. They had really messed up. But she knew that she couldn't tell him. They had done so good at pretending that nothing had happened. If she didn't tell him, they could keep it that way. They needed to keep it that way. She knew that she couldn't tell him. If anyone found out that it was his, he would definitely go to jail. And if she told him, everyone would find out. She knew that he couldn't walk away if he knew. That was the kind of man he was. She cried. The pain in her heart that she had slowly pushed away was back. If only, if only. If only Ezra wasn't Mr. Fitz.

She knew she had to break it off with Noel. She couldn't give him her whole heart, at least not right now. And she couldn't have him wondering about the life growing inside her. She couldn't have Noel. That had always been the truth. She just hadn't realized it before now.

She was still Ezra's. That one night had changed her life forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, all! Have a wonderful day!


	4. Secrets

It was an evening in the middle of November. Aria was in the kitchen with her mother, drinking a chamomile tea and trying to find the courage to open her mouth.

"Ella?" she began. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course, sweetie," Ella responded in her warm, motherly voice. She had always had an open relationship with her daughter and liked to think that her daughter didn't keep any secrets from her. But she knew that it would be foolish to believe that her daughter didn't have a few secrets.

"I, um, I don't know how to say this," Aria began crying a little.

"It's okay, sweetie," Ella said, wrapping her arms around her daughter. "Just tell me when you're ready."

"I... I want to switch schools, Ella," Aria got part of her confessions out of the way.

"Why?" Ella asked with concern. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"Please just say yes," Aria begged, knowing that there was no way that she could explain the whole situation. There was no way that she was telling her mother that it was because she was pregnant with her teacher's baby.

"Of course you can switch schools, honey," Ella agreed. "You know that your father and I trust you to make your own decisions. I just wonder if I should be worried about anything."

"No, Ella. You don't have to be worried about anything," Aria told her. "But there is something I need to tell you. Something that I don't want anyone else to know. Promise me you won't tell anyone else."

Ella was concerned, of course. There were very few times when her daughter had made her promise to not tell anyone else.

"What is it?" Ella asked. Her daughter knew that she wouldn't make that promise without knowing the situation first. But Aria knew that she would keep it a secret if she could.

"Ella," Aria said beginning to sob. "Please, please don't hate me."

"I won't hate you sweetie," Ella soothed. "I promise, no matter what it is."

"I'm... I'm pregnant," Aria whispered before letting out another sob.

Ella was in shock for a moment. She, of course, was not expecting her daughter to say that. In fact, she didn't know what she had been expected her daughter to say.

"What... What happened, sweetie?" Ella asked as she continued to hold her daughter close.

"I don't... I don't wanna talk about it. Please."

"We have to talk about it at some point, sweetie," Ella said. "Not now, but at some point."

"I know," Aria said. "Just please don't tell anyone."

"I won't until you're ready," Ella promised now that she knew the situation. "But what about Byron?"

"Is he going to be mad at me?" Aria asked, looking up for the first time.

"I don't know, sweetie," Ella said. "But he needs to know."

"I know," Aria said. "I just don't want him to be mad at me."

"I know, sweetie," Ella said. "I know."

Aria slowly fell asleep in Ella's arms and woke up in her own bed the next morning. She knew that the hardest part was over, but there was still more to come.

As Aria had feared, Byron was upset when Ella told him about their daughter's pregnancy. They started fighting, he stayed at Hollis for a week, and Aria cried more than ever. She wished she had someone to comfort her. Someone who wasn't also trying to comfort themselves like Ella was. But she couldn't tell anyone. She knew that for Ezra's sake, she couldn't tell anyone yet. Byron came home after a week. Mike had found out about the pregnancy at that point, but unlike the rest of the house, he didn't really react. Things were not the same as they had been before, but Byron appeared to have forgiven Aria and he and Ella were making up.

Aria finished the semester at Rosewood Day without anyone knowing that she wouldn't be returning for the next one.

The first people outside of Aria's family to find out were her best friends. It was the last day of the semester and they were having a sleepover that night to celebrate. Aria decided that it would be the perfect time to tell them. Alison had always said that sharing their secrets made them closer, but it was also dangerous. The more people who knew, the more who could tell. But the other girls already knew about her night with Ezra and they hadn't told, so she knew she could trust them with the rest of the secret.

"I have something to tell you guys," Aria nervously began.

"What is it?" Hanna asked a bit too eagerly. Hanna was a wonderful friend, but she was also super curious and was drawn to secrets, just like Alison had been.

"I'm pregnant," Aria said.

Mouths hung agape on all three girls. What had she just said?

"Have you told Noel yet?" Emily finally asked.

"It's not Noel's," Aria slowly said.

"You mean..." Spencer trailed off.

"Yes," Aria said. "It's Ezra's."

"And you've kept it from us for this long?" Hanna asked.

"I didn't want to take any chances of him finding out," Aria explained.

"Well he'll probably figure it out when you're sitting in his class too pregnant for it to be Noel's," Spencer said.

"That's the other thing..." Aria said. "I won't be at Rosewood Day next semester."

"What?" Hanna asked, completely gobsmacked.

"I'm switching to North Rosewood," Aria revealed.

"You're leaving us?" Hanna whined.

"I can't let Ezra find out," Aria said.

"Would it really be that bad if Ezra found out?" Hanna asked. "I mean, he found out that you were his student and that worked out well enough."

"This is something he wouldn't walk away from," Emily realized as Aria nodded, a few tears in her eyes. "And that's why you're still not over him."

"It hurts," Aria said, completely breaking down for the first time as she threw her arms around Emily. The girls soothed her for the rest of the night. This was worse than heartbreak, they knew. This was worse than a break up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, all and have a wonderful day!


	5. Gone

When Ezra returned to Rosewood Day after Christmas Break, he was over Aria. He was done with getting drunk and sleeping with some random girl to try and forget her. He didn't need to anymore because he was over her. He watched his students filter back in, exchanging a few words with some. He saw Hanna, Emily, and Spencer come in, but Aria wasn't with them. He thought it was strange, but decided not to think too hard about it. You're over her. She's just another student.

The bell rang and Aria still wasn't there. A few students came in the first few minutes of his lesson. He marked them tardy without having to really look at the attendance sheet. He knew all the names by now. He kept teaching until it had been 20 minutes since the bell. That was when he had to start marking students absent. He took a closer look at the attendance when he couldn't find Aria's name at first glance. Montgomery, Aria was always right after Marin, Hanna. His attendance sheet must've somehow been de-alphabetized because North, Peter now followed Marin, Hanna. He looked at the rest of the sheet, but all the other names were in order. And Aria's name wasn't anywhere on it. She must have dropped my class, Ezra realized.

He was sort of off the rest of the class, but he manged to get through his original lesson plan. As soon as the bell rang, he prepared to do something that he had thought about all class. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He didn't have to scroll through his contacts because her name was at the top. He clicked on the 4-letter name and his thumb hovered over the little icon that would start a text message to her. He stopped to think again. Should he really break their 4 month long silence? It was probably a bad idea, but he touched the icon anyway. He stopped to think again about what he was about to do. Was it wise? He didn't want to answer that because he knew that he wouldn't like the answer. The only question he wanted to answer was if he wanted to do it. And the answer was yes.

His fingers hovered over the keyboard. He didn't know what exactly to type. There were so many things he wanted to say to her. But he couldn't. He shouldn't. He shouldn't even be texting her. But he wanted her in his class. He missed her in his class. It was the only place where he could see her. And he couldn't lose that. He finally settled on the words for his message, deciding to just keep it simple: Noticed your name isn't on my role anymore. Did you drop my class? He hoped that she would respond and they would be able to talk more.

Just a few minutes into lunch on her first day of school at North Rosewood High School, Aria received a text message from the last person she expected.

From: Ezra

Noticed your name isn't on my role anymore. Did you drop my class?

"Is your face okay?" Maya asked. They had met in Chemistry during 2nd period. Maya had been chatty, and they were now eating lunch together. Her boldness reminded her of Hanna.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Aria said, quickly closing the text. "Just one of my friends complaining about how much they miss me," she lied.

"Yeah, why did you switch schools?" Maya asked. There was her Hanna-like curiosity.

"It's... It's complicated," Aria responded, not wanting to explain any of it to a girl she had just met. Maya was fun and Aria could see them becoming friends, but they weren't yet. And so she didn't want to tell her about her pregnancy yet. And she also knew that the more people she told, the more the news would spread. And she didn't want the news to spread. Or, at least, she didn't want it to spread to one person in particular.

"Okay," Maya said. Aria was thankful that Maya got the message and stopped questioning her about it.

Aria allowed her mind to wander back to Ezra's text. She was unable to resist smiling, thinking about how Ezra had noticed that she wasn't there. But she couldn't respond. She knew this. If she responded, then she had switched schools and hidden her pregnancy for nothing.

It was 3 days later, on Thursday, when Ezra found out that Aria wasn't in anyone's class. He had run into Ella in the teacher's lounge and, because he had no response from Aria, he found himself fishing for one from Ella. He had talked to Ella over the previous semester and he knew that she was Aria's mother and she knew that Aria was in his AP English class.

"I've, uh, missed having Aria in my class," Ezra mentioned in what he hoped was a casual manner. "She was really one of my best students." That's all that she was. A student.

"I know. She really enjoyed your class," Ella responded. "It's a bit of a shame that she switched schools."

Ezra was silent for a moment, unable to think of a response. "She switched schools?" He managed to get the words out, not asking the question he wanted to. He wanted to know why. Was it because of him?

"Yeah," Ella responded. "She's at North Rosewood now."

He wanted to ask why. That word was burning on the tip of his tongue. But he knew that it might be rude to ask. And, more importantly, he didn't want to seem too interested in her. She was just another student.

"Well I hope she enjoys it over there," Ezra finally managed to say. He quickly left the room, thoughts racing through his head way too fast. Once he got back to the safety of his classroom, he pulled out his phone.

To: Aria

I heard you switched schools.

He wanted her to respond, but he didn't know if she would. She hadn't responded to his last one. His fingers hovered over the keyboard again. He needed to ask her what he had been wondering ever since he had found out that she no longer attended Rosewood Day.

To: Aria

Did you switch schools because of me?

He didn't know if having an answer would really help him, but he wanted one. He just wanted her to respond. He needed her. He needed her in some form. He couldn't have her in his class, so he needed her in some other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, all and have a wonderful day!


	6. Revelations

Ezra tried to ignore the feeling that was slowly trying to come back. That feeling that he had felt after he had found out that Aria was his student. He didn't want to go into an alcohol and sex spiral again. He had adjusted then and he knew that now he had to adjust again. He knew that he should leave her alone. She was moving on with her life and he should let her. But he didn't want her to move on with her life. He knew that he was being selfish. But he didn't care. He couldn't deny that they had connected. He couldn't deny the way that she made him feel. The passions that they shared. He knew that he should be happy that she was moving on. But he wanted her to be just as hung up as he was. Because that meant that she had felt that connection just as much as he had.

He knew that he shouldn't, but his phone ended up in his hands all too often with the screen showing his messages to Aria as he typed out more to her with no response. He knew that she had probably changed her number or blocked his number. But he wouldn't let himself seriously entertain those possibilities. Because that would mean that they would never talk again. And he needed her. He needed her in some form. If he couldn't see her every day, he needed to be able to talk to her again. Or at least believe that it was a possibility.

Although he knew it was hopeless to text that number, he commended himself on spending the first month of this semester doing that instead of how he had spent September.

The evening of February 18th, all the girls were having a sleepover in Spencer's barn. Ali had been the first to suggest the spot, due to the lack of parents in a close vicinity, and it had been their place for sleepovers ever since. Aria had lost some stupid game and Hanna now had Aria's unlocked phone in her hands. Aria hadn't been worried because there was really nothing super shocking or secretive on her phone. Or so she thought until Hanna gasped, causing Spencer to look over her shoulder and gasp as well.

"I thought you said that Mr. Fitz stopped talking to you after he found out you were his student," Spencer said before Hanna could say anything.

"He di..." Aria began before she realized why Spencer had said that. She must have been looking at all the texts that Ezra had sent her since she had switched schools.

"What's going on?" Emily asked, trying to see the tiny screen between Hanna and Spencer.

"I think that Fitz still has it bad for Aria," Hanna giggled.

"Give it back," Aria protested, weakly grabbing for the phone that was across the circle from her. She had situated herself nicely on the couch and didn't want to move. Especially since being pregnant made it harder for her to find a comfortable position to begin with.

"You haven't responded to any of these," Spencer observed, ignoring Aria's request.

"Why not, Aria?" Hanna questioned. "You could so be banging him right now."

"Hanna, he's our teacher," Emily reminded her friend. Emily remembered, of course, that Aria had already slept with the aforementioned teacher once (which was why her belly now protruded out from the rest of her body), but it didn't mean that she encouraged the idea of it happening again.

"But he's not her teacher," Hanna argued back.

"More importantly," Spencer cut in, "I think that you owe him a response."

"Spencer, we've been over this," Aria reminded her friend.

"You don't have to tell him everything," Spencer countered. "But it seems like he's going out of his mind a bit."

"It's just better if I don't," Aria responded with a tone of finality. "Now please give me my phone back." Her voice was strict, a tone that it did not usually have. If Hanna was still holding the phone, it would've been a different story. But Spencer could read Aria better than any of the other girls. And the cellphone was passed from Spencer's hand to Aria's.

After a weekend that felt like forever to Spencer, Monday came again. She had spent all weekend thinking. While Spencer respected her friend, Aria didn't always have the best reasoning. And it was killing their English teacher. Looking back, Spencer could now see it in his previous lessons. He needed some kind of response from Aria. But she wasn't going to give him one, so he would be getting one from Spencer.

When the bell rang at the end of 5th period, Spencer told her friends to go on without her because she had a question for Mr. Fitz about the assignment. The room slowly cleared as all the students but one left the classroom. Spencer waited until the door shut behind the last of her classmates. She knew that what she was about to talk about could not be heard by anyone else.

"I know why Aria's been ignoring you," Spencer began. She could see the momentary panic on her teacher's face before he managed to recompose himself.

"I'm not sure what you mean," Ezra lied, trying to sound utterly confused.

"You don't have to pretend," Spencer told him. "We all recognized you from the club. We know you're the guy that Aria..." Spencer couldn't get the remaining words out her mouth. But luckily, Ezra didn't make her continue.

"Oh," he responded. "Why, uh, why has she been ignoring me?"

"She's pregnant," Spencer revealed. She could see the question formulating inside his head, behind the shock and surprise. She answered it before he could ask it. "And yes, it's yours." Ezra's response was even more shocked silence. He was a deer caught in the headlights. After the shock wore off a little, his first response was the put his head in his hands and he muttered to himself. Spencer knew how terrible this situation was for him. It was terrible for Aria too, of course, but Aria couldn't go to jail for it.

"You have to stop contacting her," Spencer told him. "For both of your sakes. If anyone finds out, you could go to jail. And Aria's reputation would be completely destroyed. She'd never be anything except the girl who had a baby with her teacher. And she deserves more than that."

"She does," Ezra softly agreed.

"So you're going to stop texting her, right?" Spencer asked. "And you're going to just forget about her."

"You're asking me to just abandon her," Ezra said. "I'm not that kind of man."

"You can't do anything for her," Spencer told her. "If anyone finds out that you're the one who got her pregnant, you would end up in jail. And you can't do anything for her from jail. You need to just walk away. Because that way at least her reputation will still be intact. She deserves that, Mr. Fitz."

"I know," Ezra sighed. "But how do you expect me to do that? How do you expect me to just walk away?"

"You're just going to have to find a way to do that," Spencer said before exiting the classroom.

Ezra spent the rest of the lunch break sitting at his desk, thinking about what Spencer had just told him. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't be there for Aria. He couldn't make sure that she didn't go through this alone. He gave the rest of his classes reading time instead of a lesson that day. He stayed on the same page of his book. To Kill a Mockingbird seemed to mock him now. If that book hadn't existed, he wouldn't have gotten Aria into this trouble. They wouldn't have wound up in this mess. Aria wouldn't be a soon-to-be teen mom. It was all his fault. And that stupid book. But mostly him.

He thought about it his entire drive home. He thought about as he climbed the stairs to the third floor of his building. And he remembered Spencer telling him that he needed to stop contacting Aria, but he still pulled out his phone after his apartment door closed.

He knew that she wouldn't pick up, but he pressed the call button anyway. He stumbled through the words as he left her a message, telling her everything that he knew. Later that night, he got drunk and told her everything that he felt. When he woke up the next morning, he left her an apology message and asked to meet with her. She didn't respond to any of them.

He used his phone even more over the next few weeks. He tried to not get frustrated over all the messages she never responded to. He poured his heart and mind out. He told her how much he wanted to talk to her, how he wanted to be a part of the child's life if that was possible in any way. He told her how he didn't want her to go through it alone. How he wanted to help her however he could, even if the only way he could do that was through child support. He would be ecstatic to pay child support. He never got a response. He asked Spencer to stay behind after class ended a few times, but she always told him the same thing: to do what was best for Aria and forget about her. Ezra knew that Spencer didn't see those two statements as contradictory. Spencer thought that forgetting about Aria was what was best for her. But Ezra saw it as the opposite. and it was partly just because he wanted to, but it was also partly because it didn't make sense to him that walking away would be the best thing for Aria. He had heard Spencer's arguments multiple times, but he still didn't believe them.

His heart might have stopped for just a moment one night less than a month after he had found out about that he was going to be a father. It was a just a text that appeared on his screen, but it was what he had been hoping for when he had spent weeks leaving voicemails.

From: Aria

We need to talk. Snooker's Bar, Wednesday, 4:30.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!


	7. Talking (And Other Things)

From: Aria

We need to talk. Snooker's Bar, Wednesday, 4:30.

A million thoughts of joy raced through Ezra's head. She had finally responded. SHE FINALLY RESPONDED!

His fingers couldn't move fast enough as he typed out a reply.

To: Aria

I'm so glad you responded! I've been so worried about you. How's everything been for you?

He waited excitedly for a response, but it didn't come. When his eyes finally shut for the night, it still hadn't come. It didn't come over the weekend. It didn't come on Monday. It didn't come on Tuesday. It didn't come on Wednesday as he prepared to meet Aria at Snooker's.

At exactly 4:30, he walked into Snooker's. He was nervous, but he was also excited like a child on Christmas. He was finally going to get to see Aria again. He looked around the nearly empty bar, trying to see if she was already there. He spotted her in a booth, timidly waving at him, and he hurried over. His nervousness and excitement grew with every step that he took.

"Hi," he said when he finally reached Aria. He was already just a bundle of nerves, and they hadn't even started talked yet.

"Hi," Aria timidly responded. Ezra noticed that she had her legs up on the bench on her side of the booth and was sitting on it like a couch. He could clearly see the curve of her belly. She also had a clear drink in front of her.

"That's-that's non-alcoholic, right?" was the first real thing that came out of Ezra'a mouth.

"Yeah, it's just water," Aria told him, slightly annoyed. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of a fetus."

"I'm sorry," Ezra apologized. "I-I know you are. I guess I'm just a bit nervous. I'm really glad that you finally agreed to meet me."

"I agreed to meet you," Aria began, "because you need to stop. Just like you told me that first day, no one can ever know about that night. And so you can't be involved with this baby."

"Is that really what you want, Aria?" Ezra asked. "I don't want you to go through this alone. I'm not going to abandon you unless that's really, truly what you want."

"Ezra," Aria said, using his first name for the first time in way too long, "think of what would happen if people found out that you're... you know. You'd go-"

"To prison. I know," Ezra cut her off. "But that's not the question that I asked you."

"What do you want me to say?" She asked.

"I know that you've listened to my messages," Ezra told her. "You know how I feel, but I want to know how you feel."

"It doesn't matter how we feel, Ezra. You know that," Aria had a hint of a tear in her eye now. Ezra hadn't meant to make her cry.

"I know that no one can know that I'm... you know," Ezra calmly began, "but that doesn't mean that we can't have a relationship. Or even a friendship. I'm not your teacher now, so there's nothing illegal about it." He reached across the table for her hand. "It's your choice, Aria."

"People will wonder," Aria countered, not taking his hand yet. "They'll speculate all kinds of things."

"I don't care what they think about me. If you're worried about what they'll say about you, that's your choice. But if you're worried about me, stop. Because I'd rather be with you and have all the nosy people in this town gossip about it than keep my reputation without you."

Aria was silent for a moment before she got up from her seat and closed the distance between her and Ezra. She kissed him once before speaking.

"Yes," she said. "I want to be with you."

"You're making me so happy," he told her before pulling her into his lap and kissing her again.

Their kisses were getting deep, just like they had been on that first night. Aria changed her position to straddle him as he moved his kisses down her neck. He could hear her breathing right in his ear as his hand slowly crept underneath her shirt and up her side. He paused for a moment as his hand passed her stomach. He smiled at the thought of their baby before he returned to his original goal and moved his hand further up Aria's body. Her breathing became more erratic the higher he got. When his hand reached her breast, her breathing got even more erratic.

Ezra was so turned on. He wanted to take her right then and there. He wanted to make their first night pale in comparison that whatever he was going to do to her today. But as he thought about that first night, he came to his senses. They had used too little judgement then and they couldn't repeat the same mistake.

"I'm sorry," Ezra said, removing his hand from under her shirt.

It took a few seconds before Aria processed Ezra's words and opened her eyes.

"What?" she asked breathlessly.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I almost let us make a mistake again." Ezra realized that he had phrased that wrong when Aria immediately climbed off of him with a hurt and upset look on her face.

"I'm sorry too. I didn't know that me and this baby were a mistake to you," Aria said angrily with her hand on her stomach.

"Tha-that's not what I meant," Ezra said, getting from his seat and trying to hold Aria's other hand.

"Oh, please. Go ahead and explain then," Aria said, removing her hand and twisting away from him.

"I just meant that we moved too fast the first time," Ezra tried to explain. "It wasn't a mistake sleeping with you, Aria, and neither was our child. I just think that we weren't using the best judgement that night and if we had been, we would've let our relationship progress more before sleeping together."

Aria just kept her back turned to him.

"I'm sorry, Aria," he said, tentatively touching his shoulder. She didn't shrug him off. "As an English teacher, I should be better at using the right words." He got a small laugh out of Aria, but no other response. "You matter so much to me, Aria. And that's why I don't want to move too fast this time. I'm sorry I got carried away earlier."

"I guess it was sort of my fault too," Aria quietly admitted.

"I should've been thinking more clearly from the beginning, though," Ezra argued. "Will you forgive me?" he asked, close to her ear.

"Hmmm..." Aria said, pretending to think about it.

"Please?" Ezra whispered, tickling her ear.

"Okay," Aria said, turning to him. "You've won me over."

"Good," Ezra said, smiling.

Later, they both walked out of that bar with smiles on their faces.

When Ezra got home, he followed his familiar routine of pulling out his phone and going to Aria's contact.

To: Aria

:)

He hoped that she would respond, but the many times that she hadn't made him nervous. His phone made a sound as her response flashed across the screen.

From: Aria

I thought that an English teacher would be better with words ;)

It was back. His relationship with Aria was back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day, all!


	8. First Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who's curious about Aria's dress in the chapter: imagine something very similar to the purple one she wore in season 1 episode 19.

Aria felt nervous as she got ready for her date with Ezra. She re-arranged her dark purple ruffled dress for the thousandth time. It was a maternity dress, but she still felt self-conscious about her appearance. Too self-conscious. She hadn't been out with anyone since she'd found out that she was pregnant. She slipped her swollen feet into a pair of black flats and grabbed a matching black clutch before descending the stairs. Ella and Byron had found out earlier that she had a date tonight (specifically when Ella had asked her what she was getting dressed up for), but they didn't know with who. They had never found the need to ask. The girls didn't know yet either. She had been too nervous to tell them.

The doorbell rang and Aria quickly answered it to see Ezra on the other side, dressed in black slacks, a light blue dress shirt (with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, as usual), and a striped light blue and black tie. Ezra had been incredibly nervous showing up at her house since he didn't really feel ready to explain to his colleague why he was dating her daughter who was also his former student. But he also didn't want her to be driving when she was 7 months pregnant. So he was here. At the Montgomery's house.

"You're gorgeous," he breathed when he saw her, quickly looking her up and down. Aria liked the attention from him. His eyes weren't hungry or lustful. They were loving and adoring.

"Thanks," Aria blushed. "You look very handsome too."

"Not as breathtaking as you look," he told her, making her blush as he led her out to his car.

They went to a hole-in-the-wall French vegan restaurant since Ezra knew that Aria was a vegetarian and she had been craving French food lately. They talked about a lot of things, mostly getting to know each other better like on any other first date but also talking about other things like the child that Aria was currently pregnant with. Aria had decided not to find out the gender, which Ezra was a bit disappointed about but was okay with.

Later in the evening, Aria and Ezra had moved to the same side of the table. Ezra finally worked up the nerve to suggest what he had been thinking about for a while.

"Hey, how would you feel about me coming to your doctor's appointments?" Ezra nervously asked.

"I'm not sure," Aria slowly began. Ezra's smile faltered. Why was Aria not sure?

"Why... why not?" Ezra asked when Aria didn't say more.

"I would love to have you there, Ezra," Aria expanded. "But I really don't know if it's a good idea." Ezra stayed silent, waiting for Aria to explain more. "Ella usually comes with me, so she'd know. And then she might be suspicious. And it would be bad, Ezra."

"Okay." Ezra said, very disappointed. He had hoped that maybe it was something that he could fix, but now he knew that it wasn't.

"I'm sorry, Ezra," she said. She rubbed her thumb over his fingers, hoping to at least soothe him a little.

"It's alright," he told her. "I understand, Aria." He left a kiss on the side of her forehead, causing Aria to smile up at him a little.

"I'll call you after if you want," she offered.

"I'd like that," Ezra said.

"And I could get you a copy of the ultrasound."

Ezra nodded eagerly. "I would really like that." His smile had almost completely come back now.

Later that night, after Ezra drove her home and they briefly made out in his car (Ezra was still nervous about being at her house), Aria walked back through her front door and was confronted by Ella.

"How was your date?" Ella asked, startling her daughter.

"It... it was good," Aria responded, caught off guard.

"What was his name?" Ella asked. She was already pretty sure that she knew who it was. She was pretty sure after hearing the voice and seeing the car. She would have been almost certain if she had gotten a good look at the face. But she still had a pretty good idea about who her daughter had been out with.

"Uh, Ezra," Aria answered. She was nervous. Her heart was beating a little too fast. But she knew that she wanted to be honest. Well, honest about some things.

"What was his last name?" She was pushing further than she usually did, but it was reasonable. She was concerned about her daughter.

"Fitz," Aria said, more confident this time.

"Ezra Fitz... Isn't that the same name as your old English teacher?"

"Uh, yeah," Aria's nervousness came back. She knew that she had told Ezra that they shouldn't hide their relationship, but now she sort of wished that she had hid it.

Ella didn't say anything in response. She just gave Aria a look. The look that she didn't use a lot. The look that Aria knew meant that her mother expected her to say more. But Aria wouldn't right now. She didn't have the nerve worked up for it.

"I... I think I'm just gonna go to sleep now," Aria awkwardly said as she tried to escape upstairs.

"Aria," Ella called before her daughter could retreat. She knew she was caught. She knew that Ella knew. She knew that Ella knew she knew. And all she could do was face her. And that's what she did (quite literally) as she turned around.

"Why did you go out with your teacher?" Ella finally asked the question she had been wanting to all night.

"Well, he's not my teacher right now." Aria knew that it wasn't a real answer, but she didn't know is she could come up with one of those at the moment.

"Aria," Ella pushed. "What's going on? Are you alright? Did... did he make you do this?"

"Ella!" Aria exclaimed, quite shocked. "You know him! You-you work with him! Why would you even think that?"

"You still haven't answered me," Ella said with a calm that Aria did not have.

"No!" she replied. "No, he did not make me do anything. You know him"

"I do, Aria. And he's always seemed like a great guy. But I just don't understand why you're doing this. We've always tried to give you your freedom and let you make your own choices, but maybe we've given you too much. I understood when you told me that you were pregnant, Aria, because accidents happen. But I don't know what you're doing right now. I don't get it. But I want to, Aria. I want you to talk to me about it because I'm concerned. As your mother, I'm concerned about you."

"I promise you don't need to be concerned, Ella. I've thought about this. I promise."

"I really hope that you have, Aria. You know that you need to be thinking more about your choices now."

"I've thought about this, Ella. And I promise that I'm thinking about my choices."

"Well talk me through this one?" Her tone was kind, without the frustration that it had had before. Aria knew that she really did want to understand.

"I... I just ran into him a little while ago. And we started talking. And, um, it was different than when I was his student. There wasn't this wall anymore. And we connected, Ella."

"And have you thought about how that's going to change after you have the baby?"

"Y-yeah. Yeah, I have."

"And?" Ella prompted.

"I'm not going to let any relationship come before my baby."

"Well that's great to hear, sweetie, but, uh, I was also wanting to know what he thought of this. Have you talked to him about it at all?"

"We talked about it a little bit," Aria said truthfully.

"And?" Ella prompted again.

"Uh, I mean, we... we... we just talked," Aria didn't really know what to say. "I'm just going to head up to bed now. I-I'm pretty tired. Goodnight, Ella."

"Goodnight. I guess," Ella sighed as her daughter ascended the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day, all!


	9. Meet the Parents

"So you went out with my daughter last night."

Ezra hadn't noticed that Ella had come in until she spoke. He had been a bit distracted by grading. And thoughts of Aria. He had been at least a little prepared for this possibility when he agreed to meet Aria at her house. But he was also completely unprepared for this.

"Um... Uh, yes," Ezra managed to stutter out. "Yeah."

"My daughter who used to be your student," Ella emphasized.

"Yea- Yes," Ezra was slowly regaining the ability to speak normally. "I-I did go out with her."

Ella's response was the stare. Ezra knew that she wanted him to speak more, but he also didn't want to because of the fear that he had of accidentally telling someone everything. Every illegal detail.

"Um, I'm-I'm guessing you wanted to talk about it?"

"Yeah. I did." She was still waiting for him to speak first.

"G-Go ahead," Ezra said, willing her to speak first.

"Why?" It was the question that Ella really wanted to ask. She needed to know why this man was dating her daughter.

"Um, I-I... I like her," Ezra had been mistaken when he thought that he would be able to survive this talk with Ella. "And I, uh, I wanted to make sure you knew that n-nothing happened when, uh, when I was, uh, still her teacher."

"Did you have feelings for her when you were still her teacher?" Ella questioned.

"No. No, no, no. Of course not," Ezra quickly denied. "I, uh, I never saw her as more than a student. Uh, when, uh, when she was in my class." It wasn't a complete lie.

"Are you planning on seeing her again?"

"I- Yeah. Yes. I-I would like to." It was probably his least nervous response so far.

"And where do you see this going?"

Ezra had not been expecting that question. And honestly, he wasn't quite sure. And he couldn't really honestly answer the question without telling Ella the whole truth. He knew that he would always be there for Aria in whatever way she needed him. But that was obligation. Ella wanted to know about his heart. He definitely liked Aria. He had feelings for her, most certainly, but he wasn't quite sure yet how strong they were.

"Ezra," Ella was a bit sterner now. She also sounded anxious. And he knew that it was because she was concerned for Aria.

"I-I know that you're concerned for her, Ella. And, to be honest with you, I'm not 100% sure yet about what my feelings are. But I-I do care about her. A lot. And I , uh, I-I do understand her, uh, situation."

"Are you sure you do?"

"Yes." He was very sure.

"Okay." Ella still seemed concerned, but not as much as when she had entered his classroom.

As soon as she left his classroom, he pulled out his phone.

To: Aria

Just had a conversation with your mom. About you. Eek!

Despite the awkward conversation he had just had, he felt good. He was actually sort of glad it had happened. At least now he didn't have to be spending his time dreading the moment when it would happen.

As it turned out, Ezra did see Aria again. Two days later, in fact. Aria finally got the chance to taste his cooking, which he bragged was now one of five dishes he knew how to cook (he told her that previously, it had been three). They watched her favorite movie (It Happened One Night), which was not Ezra's favorite but still one that he really liked. Aria got the chance to nap until Ezra decided that it was late enough that he should wake her up and take her home. Ezra was hoping that this date would not be followed by a conversation with Ella the next day.

Ella did have a conversation with him, but not the next day. It was the next week, inviting him to dinner at the Montgomery house.

On April 2, Ezra arrived at the Montgomery house without the intention of taking Aria out of it. He was reconsidering if the bottle of Scotch was actually a good gift. What if Byron thought he was some kind of drunk now? He hadn't really even talked to him outside of parent-teacher conferences.

He made the decision to turn around and leave the Scotch in his car too late. His hand had moved with him realizing it and he had already knocked on the door. It was now too late. He was very relieved when Aria was the one to open the door.

However, he realized that she was no saving grace when he saw her outfit. It was surprisingly revealing for the fact that they were having dinner with her parents and brother. The top of her seafoam colored dress was a deep v-neck that ended where it met the thick black ribbon that ran under her enlarged breasts. Underneath the ribbon, the dress was loose and ended halfway down her thigh. The smirk she gave him told him that she knew exactly what she was doing.

"Hey," he finally managed to say.

"Hi," Aria smiled back before kissing him, putting her body closer to his than he needed to. She pulled her body away from his before closing the door, allowing her family in the dining room to see both of them. Although Aria did not press her body against his again, she did hold his hand on the short walk to the dining room.

"Ezra," Byron greeted with an outstretched hand and a smile that seemed too forced. "Welcome."

"Thank you," Ezra responded, shaking Byron's hand before remembering what was in his other hand. "I, uh, Ar-Aria said tha-that you enjoy, uh, goo-good scotch."

"I do," Byron affirmed, accepting the bottle from Ezra. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Ezra responded, a bit awkwardly.

"Uh, this is Mike," Aria introduced him to her younger brother. From the pictures Aria had showed her, he had thought that Mike looked older than 14. But in person, he looked even older. He was taller than Aria (which actually wasn't saying much) and muscled. Both of the Montgomery siblings looked older than they were. For Aria, it was her maturity that made her seem older. For Mike, it was his physical features.

"It's nice to meet you, Mike," Ezra greeted. He extended his hand for a shake, which he wasn't sure was the right greeting for her almost 15 year-old brother. It seemed a bit too formal. Mike shook his hand, though, so apparently it wasn't too formal.

Ella was to next to greet him, with a simple hug, before they all sat down. Ezra was glad that he was sitting next to Aria since that kept her cleavage out of his line of sight.

Dinner progressed reasonably well. Except for the fact that he was incredibly nervous. And sitting next to his girlfriend's father. His girlfriend who he had gotten pregnant. But Byron didn't know that, luckily. Or else Ezra's body might not be in the condition it currently was in. Or not behind bars. He wondered if this dinner was as uncomfortable for Aria as it was for him.

After dinner finished, the group headed to the living room. Mike excused himself to his room to work on his large amount of homework. Aria, to Ezra's surprise and joy, chose Ezra's lap as her seat. Glasses of scotch were poured for those who could drink. Ezra felt like the pleasant setting was setting the evening up to be an oxymoron. Yes, they had had a delicious dinner with pleasant, light conversation and they were now sitting on comfortable furniture, sipping drinks like they were at some kind of cocktail party; but Ezra expected Byron to start an intense questioning of his character at any moment. That was the norm, after all.

"So, Ezra, why did you become a high school English teacher?" Byron asked.

"Um, I've-I've always had a, uh, a passion for books."

"Why high school?" Byron pushed.

"Well, uh, they're old enough to understand it and-and have real discussions. And that's one, uh, one of the reasons why I love books so much."

"Why not college? Don't you agree that they would understand the material better?"

"Well, yes, of course I would love to teach a college literature class. But it's practically impossible when you have no experience." Aria was glad that Ezra was getting less nervous now.

"That's definitely true," Byron conceded. "Where did you grow up, Ezra?"

"Uh, mostly, uh, New York City." Ezra's breathing had gotten progressively heavier throughout his sentence and Aria didn't know why. His childhood wasn't something that he had ever told Aria about. She ran her fingers gently across his hand to soothe him. It calmed Ezra down a little bit, but he was still affected by whatever had set him off in the first place.

"That's a great city," Byron remarked. "Did you enjoy it there?" Neither he nor Ella had noticed what Aria had.

"Uh... I..." Ezra's mouth felt dry. His tie felt like it was strangling him.

"Ezra spent a semester abroad in Reykjavik when he was in college," Aria said, rescuing Ezra from having to answer a question that obviously bothered him. "Did you know he went to Hollis, Byron?"

"I did," Byron said, following Aria's lead. "And, uh, Reykjavik is such a beautiful place. When I was on sabbatical in Iceland, we lived about 2 hours away from Reykjavik." Byron could see Ezra refocusing on the conversation now. "What was your favorite thing about Reykjavik, Ezra?"

"Uh, they, uh, there was this coffee shop that was a bookstore on the second floor and I liked going there to write."

"That sounds lovely," Ella said. "What genres do you like writing?"

"Mostly historical fiction, but also a bit of mystery." Ezra was finally getting back into a topic that he was comfortable talking about. Not the most comfortable, but comfortable enough. He was glad that Byron wasn't grilling him, especially after the uncomfortable question about his childhood. He knew that he would have to explain that to Aria at some point. He was grateful that she hadn't pushed it tonight and that she had even saved him from the question. He knew that he had been right about her from when he first met her: she was something amazing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day, guys!


	10. NYC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't feel 100% good about this chapter, but this was like the best version of it at the time that I wrote it. And now that I've been done writing it for multiple months, I'm not really in the mind space to re-write it. So...  
> Enjoy.

There was a boy named Ezra who lived in New York City with his younger brother Wesley and his parents Dianne and Robert. When Ezra was very little, before Wesley was born, he remembered having fun with his parents. They did a lot of things together.

And then when he was a little older, but still little, it gradually petered out. He learned that the answer to the phrase "What happens behind closed doors" was yelling. Lots of yelling. There were less fun times now and he didn't go to a lot of places with both his parents.

One night, when he was four, the yelling was very loud. And then his father left for a week. That week was when his mother told him that he was getting a baby brother or sister. His father came back the next week and there was less yelling. Some of the fun times can back. There were more fun times with both his parents.

He got a baby brother who his parents named Wesley. And now there were three other people to have fun times with instead of two. But the fun times soon vanished. There were more closed doors and more yelling. The yelling was louder. Ezra's father went on a lot of business trips. Ezra's mother worked a lot. Other times, Ezra's mother went on a lot of business trips and Ezra's father worked a lot.

Ezra was eight when he learned what "divorce" meant. He wondered if his parents would get one. But when he was 10, they still hadn't got one. So maybe he didn't really understand what a divorce was.

Ezra was 12 when his parents got a divorce. He understood it, but Wesley didn't yet. He wondered how his parents were going to split custody. Would it be week days and weekends? School years and summers? Or would his parents both want sole custody and they would both ask him to testify against the other one? That had happened to one of his friends. He didn't even know what he wanted. Most children who's parents were getting a divorce would say that they wanted their parents to just stay together. But Ezra wanted anything but that. There's no way that his parents couldn't be happier apart.

There was no fight over custody, which actually turned out to be the most heartbreaking thing. Dianne realized that she didn't want children. Years later, however, Ezra realized that what she'd meant was that she didn't want those children. And so their father took full custody of two heartbroken children while Dianne left now that she was "free".

It was Ezra's fifteenth birthday when his heart was shattered again. The heartbreaking part wasn't when he realized that everyone had forgotten his birthday. The heartbreaking part was when he reminded his father, who then decided that he couldn't do it anymore. And so Ezra's fifteenth birthday was when he found out that neither of his parents wanted him.

So the New York foster system let Wesley stay with a classmate, who's family adored the 11 year-old. But nobody wanted a 15 year-old boy. So Ezra went to the first family member who would take him: an elderly aunt in Maryland. But, being elderly, she passed away less than 2 years later and the boy named Ezra spent his senior year of high school in a shady group home.

The one thing that he liked about his childhood was that it led him to his love of books. If his life had been happy, he never would've needed an escape. And if he hadn't used books to escape, he never would've learned to love them like he did.

When Ezra graduated high school, he shortened his name to Fitz and left the city in Maryland. He went to Hollis college, which had a great English program and had offered him a particularly nice scholarship.

His sophomore year, he looked up three names: Wesley Fitzgerald, Robert Fitzgerald, and Dianne Springer. Wesley Fitzgerald no longer existed. But Wesley Stenzler was a junior at a prestigious private academy where he played football and was being scouted by both Yale and Harvard. There were few mentions of Robert Fitzgerald after his children found different guardians. The last mention he found of Robert Fitzgerald was an obituary from about half a year previous. Dianne Springer had changed her name two years after her divorce. It was now Dianne Ruberfort, wife of Trevor Ruberfort and mother of 2 children, expecting a third. Dianne Ruberfort didn't appear in public newspapers like Dianne Fitzgerald and Dianne Springer had. He found out about her children from a public profile page. And in the pictures, she looked happy. Not happy how she had looked when the Fitzgerald family had posed for pictures at public events. This wasn't a professional, plastered smile. This was a real one.

And so he contacted Wesley Stenzler, the brother he hadn't seen in 5 years. The brother who then told him that he didn't want to dig up the past.

And so Ezra turned his attention to confronting the woman who had left him. He signed up for the study abroad program. But for some reason, he chose Reykjavik, Iceland instead of Sydney, Australia.

Maybe the voice inside his head that told him to do it was his future self. Because having something else to talk to an amazing girl about was worth more to him than a woman who had abandoned him and then chose to not see him for almost a decade.

That was the story that Ezra told the amazing girl who was carrying their child. Because she deserved to know all of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day, all!


	11. A Perfect Day

To describe Ezra in four words, he was very excited. He was sitting in a doctor's office with Aria. Contrary to what Aria had thought on her first date with Ezra, Ella was perfectly okay with Ezra accompanying Aria to her doctor's appointment. And Ezra was very excited about that. Aria had shown him all the ultrasounds from her previous appointments and she had a disk of their baby's heartbeat that she had played for him. But actually being at the appointment was something that he wanted.

He wished that he had been able to be there from the beginning. That was something that he strongly regretted. And it wasn't just because he wished that he had been able to be there for Aria from the start. He had also missed things in their baby's life and he hated that.

Aria grabbed his attention when she said his name. "They called us," she said after he came back to reality. She was already standing and he could see a nurse waiting on them.

"Sorry," he muttered as he got up to follow Aria and the nurse.

He was excited as they walked towards the room. He was excited as Aria lied down on the exam table and he sat in the chair next to her. He was about to see their baby. He had seen the baby before in the ultrasound pictures, but it was like the difference between going to a baseball game and watching it on TV. When the doctor came in, Aria introduced Ezra as her boyfriend, but Ezra didn't really care who the doctor thought he was as long he got to be here with Aria to see their baby. He was giddy with excitement as the doctor spread the gel across his girlfriend's belly. He knew what was coming next.

Thump-thump thump-thump thump-thump. The baby's heartbeat filled the room as an image appeared on the screen. Ezra could tell where the baby was on the ultrasound before then doctor pointed it out. After all, it was pretty human-shaped at this point in the pregnancy.

This was one of the best things in the world.

After the appointment, he was glad that Aria was okay with going back to his apartment. He wanted to cuddle up with her and their baby and never let them go.

When they got home, he started Rear Window (another classic that they both liked), set the take out he had picked up on the way home on his coffee table, and wrapped himself and Aria up in his biggest blanket. Aria fell asleep on him during their second movie of the night, Casablanca, but Ezra didn't mind. This was a perfect day. And he was even more sure that he loved Aria Montgomery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day, all!


	12. Love and Contemplation

Ezra looked up as Aria growled in frustration. They were sitting across from each other at his kitchen table. He was grading papers while she was working on her own school assignments. The one she was currently working on was an essay for her history class.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Everything," she said. When she looked up, he saw that her eyes were red like she was about to cry.

He immediately got up to be by her side. He stood behind her, hugging her from behind and pressing a kiss into her soft hair.

"It's going to be okay, sweetheart," he tried to comfort her. He knew that she was on the brink of crying, but he didn't know if it was only because "everything was wrong" or if it was also because of her hormones.

"No it's not," she said, beginning to cry. "I can't do it."

"What can't you do?" he said, moving his body so that he was kneeling beside her.

"Everything," she cried as she threw her arms around him and buried her face in his nice dress shirt.

"It's okay," he soothed her. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

"I can't do it," she cried again, temporarily taking her face away from his shirt.

"What can't you do?" He asked again, hoping she wouldn't just say "everything" again. "Is it that paper?" He asked.

"Yes. And everything else."

"What's everything else?" Ezra prompted.

"All my other classes. And-and everything with our baby," Aria sobbed. "And-and the paper was due a week ago and now th-there's another one due and I-I can't do it. I can't do any of it." Aria buried her face in his shirt again.

"I promise that everything is going to be okay, Sweetheart," Ezra tried to comfort her. "What can I do?"

"I don't know," Aria cried into his shirt. "Hold me."

Ezra continued to obey her request, but his knee was also starting to hurt a bit from kneeling on the tiled floor. But Aria was also crying pretty hard and wanted him to hold her. So he stayed there. She eventually finished her crying and let him go.

"I'm sorry," she said, and he could still hear her tears in her voice.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for," Ezra said. "In fact, I'm the one who should be sorry for making you feel like you couldn't tell me about this sooner."

"You didn't do that," Aria said. "I knew that I could tell you, Ezra, but I didn't want to trouble you."

"It's not a trouble. I lov-" Ezra cut himself off as he realized what he was saying. He wasn't sure if Aria wanted to hear that yet. But he had already started saying it and he did want her to know. "I love you."

Aria smiled. "I love you too."

Ezra breathed a sigh of relief before kissing her. He wanted to do more, but Aria hadn't felt like being intimate lately. The last time they had tried, which had also been the first time since that first night, Aria had been self-conscious about her belly and frustrated with how it kept getting in the way. Another reason, Ezra remembered, why they shouldn't go farther right now is because they both had other things to do and problems to deal with.

To his surprise, however, Aria brought her lips in for another kiss. His mouth opened for her tongue with glee. After savoring her tongue, he moved his mouth away from hers and down her neck, leaving soft kisses that ghosted her skin, which Ezra knew was a turn-on for her. If his girlfriend wanted to do more than just kiss him, everything else that needed to be done could wait. On Aria's other side, Ezra reached up to touch one of her breasts and squeezed it. That was when Aria let out a whimper. And not one of pleasure. It was a pain whimper.

"Sorry," Ezra immediately started apologizing and completely removed himself from Aria's body and starting to stand. "I'm so sorry, Aria."

"It's okay," Aria said, also standing. Her voice was still affected. "They're just a little sensitive."

"I'm sorry," Ezra apologized again. "I-I should have been thinking more."

"It's not your fault," Aria said, giving him a chaste kiss. "Okay?"

"Okay," Ezra agreed. He tried to remember what he had been thinking about before he started making out with Aria. What he had to get back to. He had told her he loved her. She had been crying before that...

Ezra spent the rest of the afternoon and evening trying to keep Aria from getting too frustrated or overwhelmed as she worked on her many homework assignments. He wished that he could do them for her so she wouldn't be so stressed out, but that would obviously be cheating. But maybe there was something he could do to make her less stressed about their baby. Their baby. His and the woman he loved. He loved her. He loved both of them.

He wasn't quite sure of everything that he wanted. For example, he knew that he loved Aria and their baby and he knew that he wanted to keep both of them in his life for the rest of his life, but he didn't know exactly what role he wanted Aria to fill in that future. He didn't know if he was ready to commit to her as the only woman for him for the rest of his life or just as the co-parent to their child. He didn't know for sure which one of those two it was, but he did have a strong feeling about which one it was. And he knew that he didn't want Aria to just be a guest here. Especially after their child was born. He didn't want their child to be swapped between 2 different homes unless and until he and Aria had determined that they were better off as platonic co-parents.

So what Ezra did know was that he wanted Aria to move in with him. The other thing that Ezra knew was that his studio apartment was not designed for 2 adults and a baby to live in. And so the conclusion that Ezra came to was that he needed to find a bigger apartment. And that he would probably be pretty crushed if Aria didn't want to move in with him afterwards.

He was disappointed that living together wasn't their current reality as he drove Aria home that night (he still insisted on driving her). He hated their parting. But it was their currently reality. So he walked her to the door, kissed her goodbye, and drove home alone.

Aria spent many afternoons after that at Ezra's. Although she wished that she could do something better than homework during the time she spent with Ezra, she had to admit that having Ezra around while she was doing her homework was preferable to not having him around. She knew that it must be silly that she was crying over the same homework that every high schooler had to do; But she also knew that being pregnant kept her hormones a bit out of balance. And she loved Ezra for understanding and comforting her every time, even though it must have seemed silly to him.

The other thing that Ezra had been doing a lot of lately, besides comforting Aria, was reading a lot of baby books. He hoped that it would somehow ease Aria's stress about their baby.

Although Aria spent a lot of school afternoons at Ezra's apartment, she did not spend a lot of time there on the weekends. The reason, which only Ezra knew, was because he wasn't in his apartment either. He was looking at various larger apartments and even some small houses. Because while he didn't know for sure yet whether or not Aria was the one for him, he knew that, if it could work out, he wanted his family to be together. His only family, his brain wickedly reminded him. He wanted his only family to be together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day, all!


	13. A Night with Mr. Fitz

Aria had decided that the end of the school year was definitely the worst time to be very pregnant. She was 2 and a half weeks away from the end of her Junior year and 3 and a half weeks away from her due date.

She spent a lot of time asleep, sometimes at Ella and Byron's, sometimes at Ezra's.

She spent a lot of afternoons at Ezra's apartment. Being with Ezra was pleasant, but doing the assignments she hated wasn't. But Ezra insisted on her getting her assignments done.

It was one such afternoon when Aria noticed a box against one of Ezra's walls. A box with a picture of a crib on it.

"Did you get a crib?" Aria asked, indicating the box.

"Uh, yeah," Ezra said nervously. "I-I was just thinking that, uh, i-if you wanted to stay over, uh, after the, uh, the baby's born, then it would, uh, probably be good to have a place for, uh, the baby to sleep. I-is that okay?"

"Yes," Aria said. "I love that idea." Ezra was rewarded with a kiss, which was an idea that he loved. "I hope you're not expecting me to help you put it together, though. Because I'm more of a supervisor at this point."

"You're a very cute supervisor."

"Well I like supervising when I get to watch you." She pulled him closer and gave him a quick kiss.

"Do you wanna supervise right now?" Ezra flirted.

"Is Mr. Fitz letting me take a homework break?" Aria questioned. But she realized that she had made a mistake in asking when Ezra's eyes widened. She cut him off right as he opened his mouth, probably to object.

"I would love to supervise," Aria said.

"Maybe you should get back to your homework," Ezra said, being the adult.

"Or I could supervise," Aria suggested again.

"What if you work on some homework while I assemble the crib?" Ezra suggested. "And we can do whatever you want afterwards."

"Ok," Aria reluctantly agreed. Ezra kissed her again before turning his attention to the box by the wall.

Hours later, Ezra screwed the last screw into the last hole.

"The master has finished," Ezra bragged to Aria, presenting the crib as she turned to face him.

"It looks great," Aria complimented. "And I believe this means we get to do whatever I want now?"

"Yes," Ezra confirmed, coming up behind her. "Whatever you want." He bent his head down and laid kisses on her neck and collarbone. Unfortunately, due to Aria's slight adversion to intimacy recently, he was feeling pretty sure that whatever Aria wanted to do was not continue further in this direction. However, Aria leaned her head back, willing him to continue. It also gave him a nice view of her breasts, which he still very much wanted to tuch. But he also didn't want this to end like it had last time.

So he settled for placing his hands on her sides. And then moving them down to her hips. And rubbing slow, tight circles. He got a soft moan from Aria. He refocused on rubbing the circles and sucking her neck at the same time. He got another moan from her. He moved his hand slightly inward and Aria moaned again. He was so hard at this point.

He moved his hand inward again, to which Aria breathed his name. He wanted this. But he had to make sure that this was what Aria wanted too.

"Aria," he whispered into her ear before biting it, causing her to moan again. "Tell me what you want."

"I want you," Aria responded. "In bed. Now." Aria twisted slightly and kissed Ezra, which caused his hand to slip even more inward. If he moved it down, he could be fingering his incredibly sexy girlfriend. But he did want her in his bed.

So they moved to his bed. Where his fingers finally plunged into her core.

"Ezra," she panted after getting familiar with his fingers. "Please. I want it."

Ezra's cock was twitching in anticipation at this point. This was easily the best night of his life. Aria's fingers where already undoing the zipper of his pants.

The abominable clothing couldn't come off fast enough and he was soon balls-deep into Aria. His hand didn't leave the area, though. It moved to her clit, making her moan even louder. His name came out of her mouth over and over and over again, like a cheer for him to keep going.

Aria uttered his name again, this time in a scream as she came. He followed soon after before laying down next to her.

"That was incredible," he told her, giving her a nice kiss.

"Yeah," Aria breathed. "It was really incredible."

"Will you stay over tonight?" He asked.

"Yeah," she promised. "I should probably text Ella, though," she said, sitting up and grabbing her clothes.

"No, don't get dressed," Ezra protested.

"You want me to walk across your apartment naked?" Aria asked, turning and giving Ezra a wonderful view of her naked breasts. She was still insecure about her new figure.

"Yes?" Ezra replied, hoping that she would. "Please?"

"Fine," Aria gave in, getting up from the bed with zero clothing. Ezra was completely hard again as he watched his naked girlfriend walk across his apartment. She blushed and ran back to the bed when she turned around and saw that Ezra was watching her intently.

"You're so beautiful," Ezra told her, kissing her again.

"Ezra..." she blushed.

"I'm serious," Ezra continued. "You are so beautiful. And sexy," he kissed her. "And smart." Another kiss. "And passionate." Another kiss. "And strong." Another kiss. And another, initiated by Aria. And another. She was making out with him now. His naked girlfriend was making out with him. Naked.

She moved to straddle him and began grinding against his erection. He wanted her again.

"Aria," he groaned.

"Yes, Mr. Fitz?" she smirked.

"Aria," he groaned again.

She smirked again before taking her lips from his face all the way down to his cock.

"Oh, oh, Aria." She was so good at it. He didn't know if it was because she was just a natural or because she'd had a lot of practice before him. He hoped she was just a natural. He didn't want to think about her doing this to other guys. In fact, it was hard to think about anything with the way that Aria was blowing him.

"Aria," he was forced to think again as she brought him very close. "Aria, I-I'm close."

Aria met his eyes as she continued to work her magic. She didn't hesitate.

"Aria," he groaned one last time before coming in her beautiful mouth. He watched as she swallowed every last drop.

"I swear you're some kind of goddess," Ezra said, pulling her next to him and close as he could with her bump. "Like a sex goddess. A beautiful, sexy sex goddess."

Aria blushed before nuzzling her face into his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day, all!  
> (Also, going to point out that I am not the best at writing smut lol.)


	14. The Big Day

Aria woke up in the middle of the night. She was naked, just like that night 3 weeks ago when she and Ezra had finally had sex again for the first time since she had gotten pregnant. But unlike 3 weeks ago, she was feeling what she was pretty sure were contractions.

"Ezra," Aria said, shaking the man next to her, "wake up."

"What?" Ezra was only half-awake at this point, given that he had just woken up.

"Ezra," she said, trying to get him to wake up more as her level of calmness rapidly decreased. "Ezra!"

"What?" Ezra asked, now wide awake. "What is it?"

"I-I think it's coming now. Th-the baby's coming."

"N-now?" Ezra was just as freaked out as she was. "Ok, uh, uh... hospital." Ezra jumped out of bed, halfway to the door before he realized that he was still naked and Aria wasn't by his side. "Clothes," he said. "We-we need clothes."

They quickly dressed while simultaneously continuing to freak out.

"O-okay," Ezra stuttered. "We-we sh-should go now."

"Okay," Aria nodded, heading out the door with Ezra.

They were halfway to the hospital when Aria said something other than how much the contractions hurt.

"My bag! My bag is at Ella and Byron's. We-we need my bag, Ezra!" Aria was crying now.

"It'll be alright," Ezra reassured her, managing to calm his nerves for a moment. "We'll call them and we'll have them bring it. It'll be okay, sweetheart."

18 minutes later, 4 Montgomerys and 1 Fitz were at the hospital. As it turned out, Aria's water hadn't even broken yet and they could've waited a little before coming in.

7 hours and 32 minutes later, Aria was in a delivery room with 1 doctor, some nurses, 1 Montgomery (Ella), and almost 2 Fitzes.

Soon, Aria was crying tears of joy with a baby boy in her arms.

"Do you wanna hold him?" Aria asked Ezra. She knew that the nurses would take the baby - their son - to be cleaned up soon.

"Yeah," Ezra choked out, accepting the little child from Aria's arms. He was crying tears of joy.

"We need to take him back now," one of the nurses gently prodded after a little bit. "Do you have a name for him?" she asked Aria.

"Jeremy Holden... Montgomery," Aria responded. She and Ezra had talked about the names a lot. Especially the last one.

"So this is why you wanted to switch schools?" Ella demanded as soon as the doctor and nurses left the room. "So you could keep having sex with your teacher?"

"Ella! That's not what happened," Aria tried to explain.

"And you!" Ella said, turning her attention to Ezra. "You told me that nothing happened when you were her teacher!"

"I promise nothing did," Ezra told her.

"Really? Then how did my grandson end up looking remarkably like you?" Ella demanded.

"He wasn't lying to you," Aria cut in. "It was... it was before school started. Before we knew that he was my teacher. But a-as soon as he found out, he-he ended everything. He treated me just like everyone else, I promise."

"So he treated you like he didn't knock you up. Very adult." There was fire in her eyes.

"No, Ella, I-I kept it from him. And when he found out, he was there, Ella. He was there in every way." Aria smiled up at Ezra.

"That doesn't make everything okay, though," Ella said. "You two... shouldn't have happened. How... how did you happen?"

"It-it was that weekend before school started when I went to that club with the girls," Aria explained. "But you know that you wouldn't be doing this if it was anyone else, Ella."

"Anyone else wouldn't be your teacher. It doesn't change that it shouldn't have happened."

"But it did happen," Ezra cut in. "And unless someone has a time machine, it can't un-happen." Ezra stopped when he saw the look in Aria's eyes. It was the same look she had had months ago when she had thought that Ezra had called their child a mistake. "And we don't really want it to either." It wasn't entirely true, exactly. He definitely didn't regret their son, but the situation could've been a lot better.

Ella just nodded in concession, knowing that the young couple was right.

Ezra awkwardly cleared his throat, regretting that he couldn't just let the conversation end there.

"And... we would appreciate it if, maybe, you could not share that information. The law isn't quite as understanding as you are." Aria nodded in support of her boyfriend's words.

"To be clear," Ella responded. "I don't endorse what the two of you did. It was wrong. But, as you've pointed out, there's no way to undo it. But, Ezra, I do appreciate how you've been here for Aria and I don't wish to see you forced to abandon her now."

"Thank you," Ezra responded.

Mike and Byron were reunited with Aria shortly after. Soon thereafter, Jeremy (Jem, as they were already starting to call him, a reminder of the book that had brought him into existence in the first place) also joined them. Byron did not miss the look in Ezra's eyes as he held the child, but his curiosity would later on be hushed back at his own house when he would mention it to his wife and she would dismiss his concerns. Mike would hold his nephew and be unable to resist wondering who it was that had provided the child with the other half of his genes. Ella already knew who it was as she watched her child holding a child of her own.

When it came time for Aria and Jem to check out of the hospital, there was some dispute over which residence they should return to. The younger couple emerged from the dispute victorious, meaning that the small family went home to apartment 3B. That night, the apartment was filled with cries of a newborn and the sighs of two tired new parents. They were both grateful that neither of them had any obligations in the morning. Being June, Aria didn't have school and Ezra didn't have to teach it. He was teaching a summer writing workshop through the school, but it didn't start until later in the month. So for now, he had all the time in the world to spend with his love and his son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, just going to point at that the hospital scene may not be 100% accurate lol.  
> Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day, all!


	15. Summer

Aria and Ezra were out on their first date post-birth and Aria was thinking how although she obviously loved her baby boy dearly, she was so glad that his grandmother had offered to watch the 2 week-old for the evening, giving her a brief break from the noise and responsibility. They had stayed in for the night and Ezra cooked a lovely dinner, followed by a viewing of one of their favorite movies.

But it was the part of their date that came after the movie that Ezra was the most excited. Surprisingly, for his level of excitement, his plans for the second part of their date did not involve occupying his girlfriend in bed. In fact, it did not involve a bed in any way. Or any furniture, for that matter.

After the movie ended, he enacted his plan, convincing Aria to let him put a blindfold over her eyes before he drove them to an undisclosed location. When they arrived at the mysterious location and Ezra kept her blindfold on, she made him promise to not let her trip.

"I promise, darling," he said against her ear. Ezra, making the smart decision, led his blindfolded love into an elevator rather than up some stairs. She was guided out of the elevator and many footsteps later, she heard the unmistakable sound of a key in a lock.

"Where have you taken me?" She asked, voicing her curiosity.

"You'll see in a minute," he responded as he led her forward. The blindfold was removed from her face and she was able to see that she was standing in the middle of an empty apartment.

"What... What is that?" she asked. She was thoroughly confused at this point.

"It's... It's my new apartment," Ezra explained. "Where I'm hoping that you'll live with me... on a more, uh, permanent basis."

"A-Are you asking me to move in with you?" She questioned, the excitement growing in her voice.

"Yes," Ezra said, making himself look her straight in the eyes as he confirmed his desire.

"Then yes," Aria said with a smile. Ezra returned her smile ten-fold then gave her a kiss.

"Fancy a tour then?" He asked, the smile refusing to leave her face.

"I'd love one," she answered, allowing Ezra to guide her through the 2-bedroom apartment, reminding her just a bit of a realtor.

Ezra was giddy as he waited for the next two weeks to pass so that he could move into his new residence. His new residence that would also be his girlfriend's residence.

Overjoyed would not quite describe the intensity of his emotion that first night that the 3 of them spent together in the new apartment. It wasn't like there was a lot that was different (besides the privacy) since Aria and Jem had been spending most nights at his place, but Ezra was still more than overjoyed. It was something about knowing that it wasn't just his home. It was their home. It was the simple feeling of knowing that all of her clothes were in the apartment rather than split between her parents' house and a drawer or two of his dresser. It was the feeling of decorating his son's nursery, knowing that he would spend every night there. It was the feeling of letting Aria re-arrange his cupboards because she knew that she wasn't just a long-term guest anymore. It was so many things. So many things that made him beyond happy, beyond ecstatic, beyond overjoyed. Maybe even beyond perfect. What he was feeling didn't have a name.

Two weeks later, he, Aria, and Jem were at Ella and Byron's for a weekly family dinner. These dinners always made Ezra nervous. He felt as though Ella and Byron kept their eyes on him the whole night (probably because they basically did), judging his every action. And it wasn't that he didn't help with Jem when Ella and Byron weren't around, but he really helped with Jem at these dinners. To the point where Aria didn't even have to lift a finger. Aria would always tell him to not be so nervous, but she wasn't the guy who had knocked up their 16 year-old daughter. The fact that he found comfort in, however, was that Ella was the only one who knew for sure that he was that guy.

This evening in particular, however, after dinner and some talking in the living room, Byron had asked to talk to Ezra privately before he and Aria left. Ezra was on edge as he and Byron left the living room to talk in Byron's office. Ezra mind was racing, wondering why this conversation was happening. His mind jumped to the worst: Byron knew. He had found out that Ezra was the guy who had knocked up his daughter and he was angry about it. That had to be it. What else could it be?

He ran through the conversation in his head as Byron shut the door. Should he just confess immediately before Byron had a chance to confront him, to watch him squirm? Before he had a chance to speak, however, Byron opened his mouth.

"I was speaking with Ella earlier," Oh no, Ezra thought, she told him. He knows. I'm screwed. "Since she's worked with you at Rosewood High, she thought you'd be perfect for an opening at Hollis." Ezra was completely surprised. Byron didn't know! And Byron was... offering him a job, it sounded like.

"If you're interested," Byron continued. "You'd still have to go through the interview process and everything, of course; but I could put in a good word for you. I think that you'd really enjoy teaching at Hollis, Ezra."

Ezra needed just a moment to recover from this good fortune. An opportunity to teach at a college after only a year of teaching at the high school level. And an elevated chance of getting it since he had an in via his girlfriend's father.

He and Byron emerged from the study a couple minutes later, the mood between them light and joyful.

"What was that about? In the study with my father?" Aria asked her boyfriend as they pulled out of the Montgomery driveway.

"Oh, there's an opening at Hollis and Byron's offered to put in a good word for me," Ezra explained.

A couple weeks later, Ezra got the call that he had been waiting for: He got the job! He spun Aria around as he told her the wonderful news. He told their almost 2 month-old son, although Jem definitely could not comprehend the words (but it did make Aria's heart flutter when he told the little boy that "daddy" had gotten a job at Hollis).

Byron had also heard that Ezra got the job (his contact from the selection board had told him, of course), which led to the grandparents offering to watch Jem for the whole night (and into the morning) if the couple wanted to celebrate the new job. They had accepted, of course, and after dropping Jem off at his grandparents, took full advantage of the fact that Jem was going to be elsewhere for the entire night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those wondering, Jem's name was taken from To Kill A Mockingbird. That's all.  
> Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day, all!


	16. Honesty

It was late August and 3 people were on their way to Hollis college: 1 new teacher, 1 seventeen year-old who didn't start her senior year for another week, and one 2 and a half month-old baby. That hadn't been the original arrangement, of course. Aria had pointed out that Jem didn't have to start going to the campus daycare this week since she wasn't in school yet. But Ezra had wanted to start to day so that they had a chance to get him into the routine. He didn't want Jem's first week getting used to the routine to also be when Aria was trying to get back into her own routine.

Aria had eventually caved and that brought them to where they were now: Ezra about to start his first day of teaching classes, Jem about to start his first day of daycare, and Aria planning to spend the day with her 2 favorite men, waiting in Ezra's office for him to return or checking in on Jem. Aria had originally considered sitting in on all his classes, knowing the effects that Ezra had had on his students in high school and would undoubtedly continue to have in college. But she had, luckily, decided against it, realizing that it probably wouldn't help his professionalism. So instead, when she wasn't checking in on Jem, she made herself comfortable in his office, giving him some very heated kisses between classes.

Ezra missed her prescence during the second week of teaching when she had to be in school. He had been spoiled the past week, getting to see her between all of his classes, and he was missing it now. Especially the intimate moments they had shared. He wasn't a constantly horny teenage boy like Aria's classmates, but he was a man in his early twenties. So of course he had very much enjoyed getting to make out with his girlfriend between classes.

Meanwhile, Aria sat through her classes, but they were different than she had always thought that they would be. She wasn't the gossipy, superficial, popular girl that Ali had made her her freshman year. She wasn't the mostly carefree and adventurous girl she had been during her sophomore year in Iceland. She wasn't even the worried yet semi-organized girl that she had been her junior year during her pregnancy. She knew that Ali would've been horrified at her lack of interest in the seemingly mindless gossip that seemed to occupy her classmates' worlds.

She knew what she was feeling now: maturity. She was over the high school drama that she had hunted her freshman year, been the center of her sophomore year, and even still followed during her junior year. She didn't really care which iconic couple had broken up that week or who was likely to be crowned homecoming King and Queen or who was throwing a big party this weekend.

The one high school thing that she did still care about, though, was hanging out with her friends. She had transferred back to Rosewood Day now that her boyfriend wasn't an English teacher there and she enjoyed having her best friends in her classes again and talking to them over lunch. Admittedly, just like with high school drama in general, there were some topics of gossip that consumed her friends while she had no interest in them. But she enjoyed being back with them all the same.

She was always glad when the last bell rang dismissing her to leave and see Ezra and Jem. Depending on Ezra's teaching schedule, sometimes they would be in the apartment when she entered and sometimes they wouldn't. When Ezra had his late class that went till 5, Aria was tempted to go to Hollis after Rosewood Day got out and re-unite herself with their son; But Ezra, trying to be logical, had told her to take advantage of the fact that someone else was watching their son and to get some homework done. So on those days, she did.

On the other days, however, she didn't have trouble finding free time to do homework (or other things like hanging out with the girls occasionally) either. This was because Ezra could definitely be described as an involved father. Whenever Jem cried for attention, Ezra immediately responded. Whenever he needed a diaper change, Ezra was on it. The only time Ezra wasn't jumping to take care of their son was when he needed to be nursed, obviously. Those were the times when he let Aria take care of Jem's needs.

Aria was endlessly grateful from the help that Ezra provided. But whenever she thanked him, he always told her that there was no reason to thank him just for doing things that were his responsibility. It was moments like these that once again reminded Aria of the difference between Ezra and the males just 6 years younger than him that she went to school with.

And although Aria was grateful, in the back of her mind, she was worried that maybe it was too good to be true. Near the end of September, she found out that maybe it was, in a way. Jem had finally gone to sleep for the night (Aria had convinced Ezra to let her do it tonight) and Aria had returned to her boyfriend's side, watching him work on grading a particularly large stack of papers. She was surprised when she caught sight of the date on the top one: September 03.

"Looks like you're waiting a while to get your grading done," Aria teased.

Ezra groaned in frustration as he ran a hand through his hair, Aria's comment getting to him in a way she hadn't meant it to. "I've just been a bit busy lately."

"Being an immense help with Jem," Aria filled in. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was taking you away from your grading." She kissed the side of his jaw and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "You don't have to be the one to take care of him all the time."

"Aria," Ezra sighed, turning his body in the chair so that he was at least partly facing her, "I... I want you to have every opportunity. To not be held back by anything."

"To not be held back by Jem, you mean," Aria amended, her jaw hardening. "You regret it, don't you? You say you don't, but you do." Tears were now in her eyes.

"That's not true," Ezra denied, grasping her hands in his.

"Don't lie to me," Aria said, taking her hands from his. "Don't try to spare my feelings. Just be honest. Completely honest, Ezra. Do you regret it?" She looked deep into his eyes, searching for the truth. The whole truth.

Ezra sighed again before letting any words leave his mouth. "I love our son," he began, "and I'm glad that he's our son. That you are the one that is in this with me. But," he continued, ready to fulfill Aria's request of complete honesty, "I, um, I... it's not an ideal situation that we've put ourselves in."

Aria nodded in response, acknowledging that that statement was true.

"And I guess," Ezra sighed at what he was about to say, "that you're right. In a way... I do have some regret." He watched Aria's face fall just a little even though she had been waiting for him to confess that. "But the only thing that I regret about this is the timing. Aria," he continued, tentatively taking her hands in his again. She didn't pull away this time. "I... I am not just in love with you in some kind of fleeting or temporary way. Fooled by some kind of temporary haze." His eyes blinked as they looked into hers. "I am madly, permanently in love with you. This is what I want with you. And, in all honesty, I do have to admit that, ideally, it would've been a few years down the road. But please," he begged her, "please don't say that I regret this, Aria."

"Then don't try to put everything on your shoulders," Aria told him gently. "Don't try to shield me from the consequences of something that I don't regret either. You have responsibilities other than being a father and you can't shirk those to try and give me some 'normal' teenage life, okay? You don't have to be the one making all the sacrifices."

"Okay," Ezra agreed. "Come closer," he said, gesturing for her to sit in his lap. She complied, leaning her side against his chest. "You are the single most amazing woman that I have ever known," he whispered against her ear. "I love you so much, sweetheart."

"I love you too, dear," Aria said while still blushing at his compliment. "But you are the amazing one, Ezra. I love you so very much," she repeated before planting a kiss on his lips so that he couldn't argue with her. The fingers of one hand wound into her hair while the other settled on her hip. He kissed her again, deeper, and darting his tongue out, touching it against her lips, willing them to open. They did and two tongues met each other, fiercely clashing together with a passion. His fingers pressed into her hip, trying to pull her even closer to him.

Before they could get any further, a cry came from the nursery, immediately halting them. Both of them immediately rose to attend to the crying baby

"I've got him," Aria said. "Get some papers graded."

"I love you," Ezra said, giving her a quick peck.

"I love you too," Aria told him before walking towards the nursery to quiet the cries of their baby boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day, all!


	17. Say Yes

It was a not too chilly day in November, 2 weeks after Jem's 5 month birthday. Jem was at Ella and Byron's house, being adored by his grandparents and uncle. Aria and Ezra were on a walk along a grass park after a dinner at a high-end restaurant.

They walked with their fingers intertwined and bodies close to each other. Their faces held smiles of contentment.

Ezra tried to keep her palms from sweating as they neared an old archway, made of weathered white wooden trellises, covered and surrounded by the roses that grew in and around it. Tonight, it was also surrounded by a hundred candle, all burning brightly, illuminating the area.

Ezra got more nervous the closer that they got. 30 steps. 20 steps. 15 steps. 10 steps. 5 steps. 4. 3. 2. 1. 0... They were standing under the archway and Ezra stopped his girlfriend from walking further. He turned their bodies so they were facing each other.

Aria's eyes went wide when Ezra got down on one knee, nervously producing a ring, encased in a black velvet box, from his pocket. Her mouth opened slightly, still in surprise.

"Aria Marie Montgomery," she was already smiling. It was throwing him off. When he had practiced this, he had prepared to be nervous. But he wasn't nervous now. Her smile gave away her answer. He wasn't nervous and it was throwing him off. "From- From the moment I saw you, I knew that you were special. Extraordinary. You were at a club, reading my favorite book." He chuckled at the memory. "That's when I first felt my connection to you. I was devastated when I thought that we couldn't be together. And I told myself that it was ridiculous. How could one girl mean so much to me after just one night?"

"A-and then I found out about Jem. And that's when I realized that I had been right to be so drawn to you. You are intelligent. And kind. You cared what would've happened to me. And that's when I started falling in love with you. I fell in love with you quickly. It wasn't very hard to do. You're a treasure. You're a one in a million. You're a diamond amidst a world of rocks. A rose amidst a garden of withered flowers. You are... the love of my life. The one. My soulmate. And there is nothing that would make me happier than spending forever with you. So... Will you marry me, Aria?"

"Yes!" She nodded emphatically. Ezra slipped the ring on her finger before rising and wrapping her in his arms. This was the best feeling in the world: knowing that he got a forever with the love of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and have a wonderful night, all!


	18. Trouble in Paradise

"I can't believe we're even having this fight, Ezra!" How could her fiance be so illogical?

"Well I can't either! We wouldn't have to be having this fight if you would just admit that I'm right," he argued back.

"Admit that you're right?" Aria questioned, exasperated. "You're not right. You're wrong and you're being illogical and impractical!"

"It's not illogical," he argued. "What's illogical is you confining yourself!"

"What's illogical is your idea! What is wrong with just staying here and not creating more problems for ourselves?"

"Because I love you and I want you to have everything! And there is nothing wrong with that."

"Except that it's impractical. We'd have to move. You'd have to find a new job. And you just got the job at Hollis. If you leave it, you probably won't get a chance to teach at the college level again for at least a few years."

"I don't care! I would teach at a middle school in... in a field of toxic waste in downtown Detroit. I don't give a damn about where I'd have to teach! Or even if I couldn't even teach. You shouldn't have to limit yourself."

"Ezra," she sighed. "We have a good set up here. You have your dream job. And the colleges here are good ones. It's not like I was on my way to the Ivy Leagues or anything before this."

"Maybe not," Ezra admitted. "And the colleges here are decent enough, but there are better ones. And you could get into them, no problem. I'm not asking you to commit to going to any of them, just apply."

"It's useless to apply to colleges that I don't plan on attending."

"Well then maybe you should keep an open mind. College is a chance to explore. To experience new things. So experience a new city."

Aria just sighed, placing her head in her hands. "I'm not going to keep having this argument with you." She began walking towards their bedroom and Ezra cautiously began to follow her. "We both need a night apart to think about this." She grabbed a small duffel bag from their closet then walked over to the dresser, pulling out a set of pajamas. "I'm going to stay at Ella and Byron's tonight. I'll be back tomorrow morning and we can talk then. Unless you decide you need more time to think." She zipped up the bag and looked back up at Ezra. "Do you want me to take Jem for the night too?"

"There's a bottle in the fridge. He'll be okay with me," Ezra said. "Unless you'd prefer to take him with you."

"I think he'll sleep more peacefully in his own nursery," Aria responded. She picked the bag up from the bed and proceeded to walk out of the bedroom. She stopped by the nursery, giving her son a light kiss on the head.

Right before she left, Ezra wrapped her in a hug. "I love you, you know" he told her.

"I know," she said. "And I love you too. I'll be back tomorrow morning."

"I'll see you then," he told her, releasing her so that she could walk out the door.

Ezra spent the night thinking a lot and sleeping very little. Aria had a good point, he had to admit. It was a lot more convenient for them, for sure. But why couldn't she see that he was trying to help her? He was trying to prevent her from losing any opportunities. And he was doing it because he loved her. It was infuriating! Why wouldn't she let him do this?

Aria spent the night thinking as well. She knew that they were having this fight because Ezra loved her. Because he wanted to give her opportunities. But what was so wrong with staying here? She didn't need the opportunity to go to some far away college. She didn't need to yank Ezra away from his dream job. And why couldn't he be satisfied with that answer? Aria fell asleep, still not having a resolution.

Aria entered the apartment at 10 am the next morning. Jem's stroller was sitting in the middle of the living room, which Aria knew meant that Ezra had taken him on a walk that morning. Currently, Ezra was sitting at his desk, grading some papers while Jem sat nearby in his play pen, playing with his various toys. Ezra turned around when he heard the front door open.

"Hey," she greeted, walking towards him.

"Hey," he greeted back, rising from his chair. He lifted Jem out of the play pen, knowing that Aria would probably be eager to hold him again after being gone the whole night. She accepted the baby into her arms and kissed his head, just as she had done before leaving the previous night.

"I don't want to fight again," Ezra said. "And I did a lot of thinking last night. And I understand your side of it, but I want to do this because I love you and I wish that you would let me."

"I know," Aria said. "But we've had this conversation before. You can't sacrifice everything for me just because you love me. You have your dream job, Ezra, and I don't want you to give it up for me."

Ezra was silent for a moment, considering her words. "Okay," he finally nodded. "We'll stay close enough that I can commute to Hollis."

"A reasonable commute," Aria made sure to amend.

"Okay," Ezra agreed.

"And by reasonable, I mean half an hour of less."

"Hour and a half."

"45 minutes."

"An hour."

"Okay," Aria agreed. "Are we done fighting about this now?"

"As long as you promise to apply to any colleges that interest you."

"I promise," Aria promised. "Kiss me?"

Ezra's only response was to do as she said. "I love you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day, all!


	19. Celebrations

Throughout February, 6 different acceptance letters came in for Aria. She had gotten into all of the colleges she had applied to. Ezra was proud of his fiance. Between wedding planning, her high school courses, and college applications, he was proud of her for staying on top of everything.

He knew that Hollis was one of the colleges she had an acceptance letter from and sometimes, in his mind, he'd entertain the idea of her choosing Hollis. He was pretty sure he would like having his wife (because she would be his wife by then) on the same campus as him, free to see her between their various classes. Maybe enjoy a little intimate free time in his office the way they had the first week he taught when she didn't have school yet.

But he never told her about the thoughts that crossed his mind. He didn't want to influence her decision in any way. And even if he didn't mind influencing her decision, it would be hypocritical of him since he had been the one pushing her to apply to colleges that were further away.

A couple weeks later, his secret hope was fulfilled as Aria told him that she was going to choose Hollis. He told her that both he and Hollis would be lucky to have her there.

It was later that month that they talked about moving out of the apartment that had been their joint home for almost a year. It wasn't too far from Hollis (only about a 20 minute drive), but since they wouldn't have any reason to stay close to Rosewood Day after Aria graduated, there was no reason to not move closer to the college that both of them would be commuting to probably every week day. Ezra, of course, didn't realize that when he agreed that it would be a good idea, he was adding one more thing to his fiance's plate. And so, as soon as he realized, he put their hunt for a new place on hold until closer to her graduation at the end of May.

That graduation eventually came and was followed a week later by Jem's first birthday. It was a small party with Aria's family, her 3 best friends, and Ezra's best friend Hardy (who had been the one to set up all the candles when Ezra had proposed to Aria). Aria had decorated the place with blue and white streamers and had spent a lot of time decorating a cake. Ezra admired the amount of effort that his fiance had put into their son's birthday. It was one of the many reasons why he loved her so very much. After everyone had left, some later than other, the couple had a private celebration of their own, celebrating the fact that in a month and a half, they would be husband and wife.

After a month and a half of more wedding planning, that day came. Ezra was grinning from ear to ear when they were finally announced as husband and wife. In that moment, he could once again see himself living out a lifetime with her. He smiled even bigger at the thought of being able to introduce her as his wife. To have and to hold her, never to part. This was one of the happiest days of his life.

Throughout their reception, he wore out the name "Mrs. Fitz", beaming with happiness every time he said it. He didn't want to let go of her. When the reception was over, the couple kissed their son goodbye before his grandparents took him for the weekend. Because what Mr. and Mrs. Fitz were going to that weekend, they definitely wanted to be undisturbed during it.

When they arrived back from their undisturbed adult weekend, they began to pack their apartment into a fleet of boxes. They had found a wonderful little house only a 5 minute drive away from Hollis and would be moving into it at the beginning of August. So as August approached for the newly married couple, they did all they could to be ready for that.

When moving day arrived, the boxes for Jem's room were the first to be unpacked as they wanted to have a place to situate him while they unpacked the rest of the house. Which, as it turned out, ended up taking about a week. The house was soon in order with no sight of the towers of boxes that had been there when they first moved in. And with a house in order, Aria and Ezra began to prepare themselves for the start of a year at Hollis. One of them as a teacher, the other as a student. Just not his student this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know that I didn't actually elaborately write out the wedding. To be honest, by the time that I had gotten around to writing this, I had gotten really into Riverdale and less into Pretty Little Liars. Sorry to those who are still avid fans of PLL.  
> Anyway, thank you for reading and have a wonderful day, all!


	20. Happiness

Aria Fitz, college freshman and wife of Ezra Fitz for the past 3 and a half months waited patiently for the timer to run out. She wasn't as nervous as she had been the first time. When the timer beeped at her, her hand didn't shake as she turned over the two tests. She knew that everything would be okay this time. When she saw the tiny plus sign, she didn't panic. She didn't cover her face and cry just a little.

She and Ezra certainly hadn't been planning on having another child so soon, but she couldn't deny that she wasn't unhappy about it. And she knew that Ezra would feel the same. After all, Jem hadn't been planned either and he had brought so much joy to their lives.

Ezra knew that something was up when his wife cooked a fancy dinner. Aria was an excellent cook and didn't mind cooking for her family, but fancy dinners like this one took a considerable amount of time (which was something that most college students didn't have, even if they weren't also mothers) and so they only occurred on special occasions. Had Ezra had a worse memory, he would've worried that it was some kind of anniversary or event that he had forgotten. But he was 96% sure that this day wasn't a special one. Yet. Whatever they were celebrating with this dinner, Ezra had yet to find out. Maybe Aria had aced a test and wanted to celebrate.

He was very surprised when he found out that what they were celebrating was that Aria was pregnant again. He was shocked. But unlike the first time, his first thought after shock wasn't oh shit. He was happy. They hadn't planned this at all, but he couldn't be anything but happy. He and his wife were having another child! He literally jumped for joy, spinning his wife around in his arms. This was his happiness. His wife, his son, and soon another little child to love with all his heart. This, Ezra thought once more, is what happiness feels like.

Their first doctor's appointment that confirmed the happy news was a few weeks later. They found out that she was already 9 weeks along by then and that she was due on June 18th. It was another moment of happiness for Ezra's mental scrapbook. It hit him full force when he thought back to when Aria had been pregnant with Jem. He had missed the first appointment, the morning sickness, the first time their son kicked, the first two trimesters, even. But now, he was here. He was at the first appointment. And he would be there during everything else. He would be there from the beginning and that made his heart soar even more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that this was a short chapter, but thank you all for reading and have a wonderful day!


	21. You Are My Everything

The faculty of Hollis College always celebrated the end of the first semester of the year with a Christmas party. Aria and Ezra had shied away from it the previous year as Aria had been uneasy about going to a party with adults that, in a way, still saw her as the little girl she had been when they had met her. She could imagine what they would think: Byron Montgomery's darling daughter had a child of her own and was engaged to a college professor. She had imagined the judgmental stares and hadn't been able to make herself agree to go. So she and Ezra hadn't gone, even though she had told Ezra that he could go without her.

This year was different. She wasn't Byron Montgomery's darling daughter. She was Ezra Fitz's wife. And she was going to attend with her husband. It was about half an hour into the party when Aria started to regret her decision. She was an 18 year old college freshman at a party with many of her professors from the semester she had just completed. And said professors were her husband's friends.

It made Aria feel awkward. What was she even doing here? She knew the answer: it was because she was his wife and this was the kind of thing people brought dates to. She wondered if Ezra was feeling the same awkwardness that she was. It wouldn't be like this if I were older, Aria thought. If Ezra wasn't married to her, this wouldn't be awkward at all. If Ezra wasn't with her, he could've gone last year with someone who wasn't currently the student of individuals that he considered friends. If Ezra wasn't with her, maybe he'd have a wife who had actually done something that was interesting to talk about. Maybe his wife would've been a powerful business woman. Maybe she would've been a best-selling author. Or maybe even a fellow English professor. But his wife wouldn't be an English major who had accomplished nothing of worth.

She was doubting herself. She hadn't meant for her thoughts to lead to this, but they had. If it wasn't for Jem, would they still be together? They had had this discussion. Ezra had told her that he didn't regret them having Jem and how much he loved the both of them, but she couldn't help her doubt. Was she holding Ezra back? Maybe she was.

"What's wrong?" Ezra asked when he noticed that she had been oddly silent.

"Nothing," she told him. "Everything's fine."

"Aria," he prodded. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. But if you're pretending for some other reason... Let me help."

"It's silly," Aria admitted. "I know that it is."

"Tell me," Ezra prompted leading them into a hallway, away from the crowd.

"I..." Aria began. "I was just thinking."

Ezra listened intently, willing her to continue.

"It's silly," Aria restated.

"I promise not to laugh," Ezra said, hoping it would help.

"Not in that way," Aria said. "I know how much you love me-"

"With all my heart," Ezra cut in, not knowing where she was going, but wanting to reassure her before she went too far.

"I know," she said tenderly. "But I can't stop thinking..." A tear threatened to fall. "That maybe I'm holding you back." It fell. "That maybe you'd be happier with someone else." Another followed it. "Someone your own age." There were multiple tears making paths down both her cheeks this time. "Who's actually done something. Who's actually someone-"

"You are someone," Ezra cut her off. "You are everything, Aria. You make me the happiest I could ever be! You're not holding me back from anything." There was a hurt expression in his eyes and Aria knew that she had caused it. But she knew that he wouldn't address that. At least not in that moment. "Please tell me you believe me."

"I know you would never lie to me," Aria said. But it wasn't what Ezra wanted to hear.

"Do you know how happy it makes me, walking around that room, introducing you to everyone as my wife? Telling them that we have a son? There is nothing that is more important to me than you and our children. Nothing that I would give any of this up for. I know that you know how much I love you, Aria."

"I'm sorry," she said, apologizing that she could ever think that she wasn't enough for him.

"Don't apologize," he said. "You don't ever have to apologize for having doubts, just like anyone else. I just want you to see yourself how I do."

"I will," Aria said. "But I'm sorry that I hurt you with my doubts." Ezra looked surprised that she had known. "I saw it in your eyes and I'm sorry."

Ezra just pulled her closer to him before engaging her in a passionate kiss.

"I love you," he told her. "Do I get to go back to telling everyone how happy I am that you're my wife now?"

"Yes," Aria said, wiping the last remaining tears from her face. He turned to walk back inside, hand in hers, when she turned him back around, kissing him again. "I love you too, Ezra Fitz."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very last chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed this story!  
> Thank you very, very much for reading. everybody! And have a fantastic night!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading!  
> If you have any questions or anything, leave me a comment and I will answer it.  
> And, again, if I'm taking too slow to post chapters and you want to read the rest of it now, the full story is posted on fanfiction.net (It has the exact same title as here and my username over there is also firefly214).  
> Have a wonderful day, all!


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